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The wobbling axis of my world rights itself in that moment.
Fox was never going to hold me back from what I want. Deep down, I knew that. I was scared to love him as much as I do because I worried it meant I’d lose myself in his black hole.
I was going to go back to his place after the opening to talk things out with him now that my head is clearer, but he was one step ahead of me. I didn’t ask him to reverse Holden’s ruined college draft, but he still made it better. He took action for his mistakes and it makes me fall for him even more than I already have.
Fox makes me feel alive. He’s always known who I am and encouraged the wild streak I can’t tame. He’s who I’m meant to be with, who my heart sings for.
Pulling back from the kiss, I rest my forehead against his jaw, simmering with the joy bubbling through me. “I wasn’t going to leave without you. You’re who I meant I wanted to go with, like we said. Your workshop and my studio. Our own little adventure.”
He squeezes me closer, probably crushing my handpicked bouquet of wildflowers even more. A laugh huffs out of me and I hug him back.
“I want you if it means the good and the bad. I’d relive the years of missing you, the pain of you coming back, all of it because it meant after all that my heart would be whole again.” His lips touch the top of my head and I sink further into his strong embrace. “We found our way back to each other.”
“We did,” he murmurs.
Fox releases me and seals his lips over mine in a searing kiss I feel down to my toes. I smile into it. He pours so much into it that I sway slightly and he catches me. Cheers sound around us again and I recognize my friend’s voices among them.
A throat clears and I lean back to find Holden hovering with the girl he met at school that he’s been wrapped up in. I lift my brows in question.
“You’re good?” he asks, glancing from me to Fox.
“I was until you interrupted.”
The girl with him snorts and hooks her arm in his. “I told you to let them be, big guy.”
Holden’s cheeks fill with color and he rubs the back of his neck, muttering an apology under his breath. This girl is good for him and part of me is glad he ended up at the community college, or they’d never have met.
“Come on.” I take the bouquet of flowers Fox picked for me and slip my hand into his. “I still haven’t been able to introduce you to everyone.”
I take him to the table where Devlin and Blair are. Gemma and Lucas joined them while Fox and I were working things out. When Connor sees us at the table, he pulls Thea away from the customers and they come over, too.
“You’ve grown a shadow,” Devlin deadpans, making Connor snort.
“Dude,” I say mildly. “Guys, this is Fox.”
They introduce themselves and he keeps a hand tucked in my back pocket.
“That’s your bike out front?” Lucas asks.
“Yeah. It was my dad’s,” Fox says. “I had to rebuild most of it until I got it back.”
Lucas whistles low in understanding. “I have a 1990 Jeep I rebuilt. It’s a labor of love.” He throws a sardonic look at Gemma and plays with her hair. “Something some people don’t appreciate.”
A low laugh rolls through her. “That was one time, babe. One time. Besides, you were a dick then and you know you deserved it. Let it go.”
“Never,” he mutters, leaning in to kiss her cheek, making her smile affectionately.
Blair smirks. “Nothing wrong with stealing a man’s pride and joy.”
“I beg to differ,” Devlin says, but there’s fondness lacing his tone.
Thea comes around the table to size Fox up, hands on her hips. She’s half his height, if that, but the fierce look on her face makes him stand at attention.
“Do I have to give you the shovel spiel?”
“The what?” Fox asks in bewilderment.
“The best friend, you-hurt-her-we-bury-you warning,” Blair supplies with a gleam in her brown eyes.
