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Because god forbid anice guybe friend-zoned.
“I think…” I keep my tone gentle. Relaxed and lazy as the sun flirts with the horizon and prepares to say goodbye. “I think we deserve each other. I think we’re both imperfect and a little crazy sometimes, and that’s what makes us fit the way we do.”
“You do?” He slides the tip of his finger along my thigh, which both calms me and sets my blood on fire.
Maybe I want birthday sex more than I want a black and gold door.
I got everything else I asked for in the rebuild: the white walls, and the cute little fence. I got the main bedroom at the front, so the morning sun would wake us up—if only my alarm didn’t go off around five in the morning, and Axel wasn’t working twenty-four-hour shifts at the station.
And I got Nicole Feeney as a sister-in-law.
Well, I will someday, when Axel and I eventually marry.
The paperwork is still to come. But the family has already begun.
“I’m glad I’m not on shift today.” He feathers a gentle kiss to the warm spot behind my ear. “We got to wake up together on your birthday. Then we did that thing to celebrate you turning twenty-one.”
“An orgasm and becoming a full-blown adult, all on the same day,” I snigger. “Finally. Which means you no longer get to cite my age… for anything.”
“Nope. But now we jump to me complaining about being old.” He exhales so deeply, his chest shrinks beneath my back, but his lips curl up. “I’m so old, Sully. I’m tired.”
“You’re a pain in my ass.” Laughing, I push up straight and turn in his lap until my knees rest on the timber chair, and my hands cup his face. He hasn’t shaved yet today, and despite beingancientat the ripe old age of twenty-three, there are no shadows beneath his eyes. “Do you wanna order pizza for dinner? We could settle in and see the night out like old people.”
“Well… we could.” He reaches up and strokes my jaw with his thumbs. “But I already made plans for us tonight.” Leaning forward, he drops a kiss to my cheek. “It’s a whole family thing, actually.”
“Yeah?” My brows shoot high in question. “What kinda plans?”
“Dinner. Card games.” He puckers his lips and waits for me to oblige his unspoken request for mine. “Nic made you a giant cake you’re gonna love. Annnnnd…” he glances past me to the street, only to smile when a car pulls up. “Them.”
Curious, I glance over my shoulder as a sleek black SUV with tinted windows idles at the curb.
“Now, despite the fact it kinda looks like a spy car,” he reaches out for my chin and pulls my face back around till our eyes meet. “It’s not. It’s just the car of a rich person.”
“Who—”
He squeezes a little tighter and forces me closer until our lips touch again. “All those times you called your parents…” His eyes flicker between mine. “You were dialing a number Raul programmed into your phone.”
My heart jumps in my chest. “What?”
He shrugs. “I guess the douchebag changed contacts in your phone one of those zillion times you were hanging out. So when you thought you were calling your mom, you were actually calling him. When you were texting her…”
Tears burn the backs of my eyes, while behind me, the slam of car doors sends shivers along my spine. “I was texting him?”
“Mmm. And I guess he was able to do something where he mirrored your phone and intercepted your messages, because when they texted you, he was the one who replied.”
“No, they—” I shake my head and reject this new information. “They didn’t text me. They never called.”
“They did, baby. They spent an entire fucking year having a conversation with him, thinking it was you. So they never worried. They were traveling the world, just like they told you they would be, but they weren’t running away from you the way you thought.”
“They…” I reach up and swipe fresh tears from my cheeks. “He was talking to them?”
“Via text.” Axel reaches up and wipes the pad of his thumbs beneath my eyes. “They never got your invitation for Nic’s party. They never got your voicemails. They had no clue you were missing them.”
“Why would he do this?” I sit taller on Axel’s lap, despite thesnickof the front gate opening and closing.
I know people are approaching. I know they see us. But I’ve spent so long in a state of rejection, the thought of turning andnotseeing my parents coming home for my birthday makes my heart ache.
“Men I considered dating?” I nod and work to stiffen my jaw. “I get that. He was jealous and controlling. I get why he scared them off. B-but my parents?”
“Jealous and possessive.” Axel only shrugs. “We can’t always understand what the hell is happening inside a psycho’s brain. We can only deal with the fallout.”
“Hannah?” My mother’s gentle voice hits my back and has my spine shooting straight. “Honey?”
“Happy birthday, Sully.” He cups my face and presses a noisy kiss to my lips. “I got you something you’ve been asking for.”
