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Beau saunters into the kitchen shirtless, eyeing my legs and winking at me. “Glad girlfriend mode didn’t mean you suddenly owned pants.”
I get up and grab mine and Isla’s empty plates to put in the sink and nearly trip over Karma when I don’t realize she’s at my feet. I huff out a breath and ignore Beau and start to serve up more plates.
A nap when they all leave is sounding better and better. Potato and even Karma haven’t wanted to leave my side either since I got back home. I’m starting to feel like a mother duck with my three little ducklings trailing behind me.
Xander is the next one to walk into the kitchen, cursing when he sees me and covering his eyes. “Dammit, woman. Where are your pants?”
“You get used to it,” James says as he walks in from the other side of the house.
Before I can flip either of them off, noise from our side of the house makes me cringe. That was way too loud for Baylor to simply just be getting out of bed.
James laughs. “You didn’t tell him you were coming downstairs, did you?”
No. “He was sleeping,” I grumble. Like a fucking dead man. Why would I wake him up? He’s going to have to let me out of his sight at some point. Today in fact. When he has to go in for finals.
I close my eyes, bracing myself for impact when I hear him yelling my name.
“I’m right here,” I call back, holding up a plate of food for him when he turns the corner and comes into the kitchen. Panic lines his face and his mouth drops open in shock, his sole focus on me as he ignores everyone else in the room. His eyes scan over me from head to toe, making sure there’s been no new damage in the last hour since I came downstairs.
“You scared me,” he shouts, running his hand over his face. “Fucking hell, Ryn. Don’t do that to me. I woke up and had no idea where you were.”
I feel a little bad. But if it was anyone else I would have told them to fuck off days ago. Even Isla who cries when I get a paper cut has not been as paranoid and clingy as Baylor this past week. Granted, Isla didn’t witness me almost dying, but I’ve given as much grace as I think I can. “Why are you yelling at me?” I try to shout back, but that damn crack gets me every time. Fucking hell.
Baylor rears back like I slapped him, his mouth dropping open in disbelief. I ignore the way our friends pretend to grab popcorn. Dicks. “Because you almost died,” he defends. “Because I watched you almost die and I love you, you stupid asshole.”
“Oh,” Isla squeaks and Beau curses at her side. But I don’t have the capacity to tell them to fuck off.
“What?” I stammer. “You love me?”
He scoffs. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course I fucking love you, Ryn. How could I not? I’ve been obsessed with you from the very first tequila shot.” He walks into the kitchen, grabbing the plate from my hand and setting it down on the counter. He cups my cheeks in his hand, brushing his thumbs over my skin. “Almost losing you was the very worst thing that has ever happened in my life and it terrifies me that one day you’ll need me, but this time I’ll be too late. That you’ll be gone and I won’t be able to look across the room and have a hundred words exchanged with a single lift of your brow. That I’ll lose the only person that has ever made me feel like this. Like there’s always been invisible strings tying us together because you’ve always been my end game.”
His lips twitch and I laugh through my tears, groaning as I bump my forehead against his chest. “You are not really sneaking in Taylor Swift song titles right now, are you?”
His body shakes as he lifts my chin to meet his eyes. “I know you love it, you secret Swiftie. And I know you love me too.” Hislips press against mine and nothing has ever felt better. Even with my body feeling like it’s been through war, Baylor takes all the pain away. He calms the overwhelming urge to run that used to beat at me any time someone new got too close.
“You know that, huh?” I can’t help but tease him, wanting to know what he’ll say next.
The grin he gives me tells me he knows exactly what I’m doing. “Yeah, I do.” The way he’s so confident, so damn smug, it should be annoying but it’s so damn hot. And if that isn’t exactly how it's been from shot number one. “I know because of the way your eyes light up every time they meet mine. The way your body instantly relaxes when I pull you into my arms. I know because you are the strongest, most stubborn, and most independent woman I have ever met, and yet you allow me to support you. To hold you and protect you. You even let me call your cat anything but his name even though it annoys you because it also makes you smile. Because it’s me and I can make you smile. You’ve loved me for a damn long time, Torryn Elaine. It just took us a while to realize it.”
He kisses me again, stealing my breath as our friends cheer behind us like fucking idiots. Shouting Amens and Hallelujahs like they’ve been waiting for this moment longer than anyone. I get lost in his kiss until even their jokes fall on deaf ears.
When he finally releases me, I steal one more peck. “I do love you, Baylor Levine.” His grin is so wide and full of adoration, I've never felt more loved than I do in this moment. “But his name is fucking Potato.”
epilogue
COVER YOUR EYES
Some time later
“We’re going to be late, Ryn,” I argue halfheartedly.
“We’ll be fine,” she promises, kissing down my stomach, tracing her tongue around my belly button. Fuck. This girl is going to be the death of me. She wraps her hand around my hard cock, teasing me with only soft touches as she slides a condom down my hard length.
“Nope.” I flip her under me, lifting one of her legs as I settle between them. “We don’t have time for your teasing. I’m in charge now.”
“You,” she starts but the words die on her lips, turning into a moan as I drive into her in one long hard thrust. Her arms wrap around my neck as I pump into her. She pulses around me, clenching around my cock with every movement.
“What was that, baby?” I tease her, lifting her leg higher and hitting her deeper.
