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It appears I don’t just have sisters. I’ve gained some brothers too.
CHAPTER 8
SARAH
It’s been a long day hanging out with my family and I’m exhausted. I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep in Theo’s truck until he opens the door, and his strong arms pick me up bridal style. I blink up at him, and run my fingers along his jawline, loving the feeling of his beard against my fingertips.
“Hi,” I whisper, “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”
He grins down at me, his blue eyes filled with adoration and love to the point that it makes me tighten my grip on him. I never want to let him go. He’s come to mean so much to me in such a short amount of time. It should scare me, but it doesn’t.
It feels right.
“Nothing to apologize for, my little beauty.” He kisses my forehead before jostling me slightly to get his door open and us inside. “I had fun.”
“I did too.” I bite my lip as I look up at him, not surprised when he doesn’t put me down once we’re inside and starts to make his way to his bedroom. “My family didn’t scare you away?” I narrow my eyes, “My sisters?”
“They were great.” When I arch an eyebrow at him, he chuckles and shrugs. “They just wanted to make sure I have the right intentions with you, but I spoke from my heart. They know where I stand.”
I blink up at him, a little surprised that he just told me he spoke from his heart. Does that mean he loves me? I know I love him, but we haven’t said the words yet. It would be way too early for such declarations, right?
Theo sits me down on the edge of his bed and kneels before me, taking off one shoe and then the other. His eyes come up and meet mine and I can see it, can see those special words. They’re right there swimming in his blue depths.
My voice is thick, “From your heart?”
His large hands cover my knees, and he nods slowly. “From my heart, Sarah.” He closes his eyes, and his hands slide up the outside of my thighs, taking my sundress with it as he does. I lift a little so he can slide the material out from under my ass before he lifts it off my body completely. “So soft,” he muses, and it makes goosebumps break out across my skin.
There’s so much reverence in his tone that it makes me feel how he sees me. I didn’t think I was all that special before I met Theo. I knew my family loved me and I thought of myself as fairly attractive, but nothing special.
Theo makes me reconsider that assumption. He makes me look at myself differently. He sees my flaws—the way I can shy away from attention, my caution, how I’d rather be quiet than loud—but he doesn’t see them as flaws. He sees them as just part of me.
I see what he would think are flaws as well—how dedicated he is to the garage, his single-minded focus, how much of himself he’s sacrificed for the dream of his father by making it his dream as well—and I see the drive in him to be the best man possible and to honor his dad. That single-minded focus is what he employed to come after me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
He’s devoted. He knows what he wants. He looks at me like I’m his entire world.
“Theo,” I whisper. His blue eyes meet mine and I’m lost in them. “I was so proud to be on your arm today. You help me to be the best version of myself. You don’t let me hide.”
“Oh, my little beauty,” he breathes out. His forehead connects with mine, our breaths mingling as our hearts find a rhythm together. “I’m the one who is proud to be at your side. You’re so damn beautiful, but it’s not about what you look like on the outside. Even though it’s a gorgeous package. It is who you are on the inside, the light that shines from you, where the real beauty is.”
I close my eyes and soak up his words, letting them find root in my heart and soul so they can flourish and grow. He gives me confidence that I never imagined I would have.
I remember in the two years after we were taken from The Community and the therapy that we all went through. My therapist wanted me to find my voice, to find my strength and confidence. I figured it simply wasn’t who I was because my willingness to fade into the background didn’t change once I was safe.
Theo shows me that I can be me while also basking in the sun of his attention. Just his attention. I can thrive under it. I can be more than window dressing and more than a supporting player in the lives going on around me. I can live my own dream with this man in my life.
I tilt my head and our lips almost touch, my eyes still closed because I don’t need sight to know where he is. I can feel him.
“I love you, Theo,” I whisper against his lips.
He rears back and my eyes snap open to find him looking at me with wide-eyed wonder. His jaw drops and I start to feel a little nervous at his reaction. Before I can spiral into the depths of a pit of darkness, he cups my face in his large hands, his callouses rubbing against my skin.
“Sarah,” he swallows hard, the emotions in his eyes bottomless, “I love you so fucking much. I thought I would have my shop and the cars I worked on for the rest of my life. It was enough for me. I was happy with what I was building. Then I got a phone call from a buddy who needed a favor. I never expected to meet you. I never expected to fall for you the moment I met you, but you looked up at me with so much trust in your eyes even though you didn’t have a reason to.” His voice goes rough, “You’re my entire world, my little beauty. My whole world.”
I close my eyes and lean forward, knowing he’ll be there to support me. And he is. I don’t know how long we stay like that, our closeness feeding the love we have for each other and making our bond unbreakable.
When Theo pulls away, he stands up slowly and pulls his shirt off. I find myself mesmerized by the expanse of tanned muscle in front of me. He’s not muscular in the way that someone is when they spend all their time at the gym; he’s leaner, but no less strong.
My fingers twitch with the need to run through his sparse chest hair. He’s so handsome. And all mine.
