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Cal sighs. “I’m sorry, Belle. I didn’t mean it like that.”
He did. I don’t blame him. Mom doesn’t let me hang out with Willa without him tagging along either. It’s why the five of us are always together.
I just give him a small smile.
“We’re always going to be friends. Our group will go to a nursing home together and terrorize the staff. We’ll be there for each other no matter what. You know that, right?” Kai asks me. The stern look on his face matches the seriousness in his tone.
“Always and forever?” I ask him, my tone defiant, but my eyes pleading.
Kai gives me one of his lazy smirks. “Always and forever.”
Cal snorts. He hates conversations involving emotions. He’s too tough for that or something.
“Hey, Ez. To infinity…” he says.
“And beyond!” Ezra finishes for him. We all fall into a fit of giggles.
“What were you dreaming about?” Kai whispers, his face buried in my neck. We went straight back to the house afterour last show. Both of us passed out together after having been awake for so long. You’d think taking things slow would include not sleeping in the same bed together, but since Kai was already sleeping next to me to keep my nightmares away, it just felt natural.
“That day we went to get ice cream. When always and forever first started with us,” I tell him, pulling his arms tighter around me. I love the feel of him this close. The warmth of his chest pressed to my back and his breath on my neck. The heat pooling between my thighs is not helping to keep my brain on track. My vagina doesn’t agree that we should take things slow.
“That explains why you were smiling.”
“Maybe I was smiling because I love you.” Just saying it out loud makes me smile again. Kai groans and pulls me closer until I’m flush with his body.
“I love hearing you say that,” he says in my ear before nipping at my lobe.
“I can feel that.” I grind my ass against his rock-hard erection so he doesn’t miss my meaning.
Kai lets out a deep moan before holding me still. “That’s mean, baby. We’re taking things slow. I want to do this the right way. I love you too much to fuck this up.”
“I love you too much to let you. So stop worrying and get to wining and dining.”
Kai chuckles, his face still buried in my neck.
“What should I wear?” I ask him as I try to squirm out of his grasp.
“Something light. It’s going to be warm.” Kai gets up, and I watch as he runs his fingers through hissleep messy hair. My eyes travel down his muscular arms, but snag when I see a small tattoo on his ribs.
“Kai…” I gasp.
His brows pinch together when he sees my face. He follows my gaze to see what I’m staring at.
“It’s always been you, mo chridhe,” he says softly.
I already believe him, but the proof is right there, forever marked on his skin.‘Always & Forever, Belle’in my handwriting. He must have used one of the many birthday cards I signed like that for him over the years.
“When? Has Cal seen it?” I ask while trying to hold back tears.
“When we got home after our first tour. It was right after Christmas and your mom said you had gone back to school the day before,” Kai says, his eyes look far away like he’s lost in the memory. “I just really fucking missed you, and I was so gone for you. I didn’t know how to express that to you, so instead, I grabbed the birthday card you sent me that year and went straight to the tattoo shop.”
I walk into his arms and run my fingers over the tattoo.
“Cal saw it later that night and was less than happy about it. I was drinking a lot by that point, and he flat out told me I wasn’t good enough for you.”
“Cal has known how you’ve felt about me this entire time?” I’m more shocked than anything. Cal can’t keep a secret to save his life.
“He has, and he was right. I was a mess back then. I’m still a mess now, but I’m working on it. And one day, I hope I’ll be worthy of you. Until then, I’ll keep working on my bullshit.” Kai wraps his arms around me and squeezes me tightly to him.
