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She cleared her throat. “Do you mean it?”
I nodded firmly, my eyes steely and determined.
She unfolded her legs, stood straight up on the bed, and took the first step toward me.
I quickly set my guitar to the side, and the next moment she landed on my lap, her shins digging into my thighs.
She cupped her hands around my jaw, and I filled my palms with her ass.
“Are you sure?” Her eyes skittered back and forth as she searched mine. “Can you handle it? Can you handle me? Are you sure?”
Now that I knew where her head was at, I relaxed back into my seat and pulled her closer, forcing her legs to drop to the sides. “I’m sure.”
“Sure, sure?” A mix of hope and disbelief widened her eyes and knit her brows.
“Positive.”
I held her gaze. Unwavering.
“Do you…” Her mouth clamped shut.
“Ask, baby,” I coaxed.
“Do you…um…” She cleared her throat. “How do you feel about me?”
“I feel like I want you to move in with me. I feel like I want you to be Brayleigh’s other mother. I feel like I want to be able to find your face in the crowd when I play a gig, wake up with you every morning and go to sleep beside you every night. I want to be the one to hold you when you’re down, soothe you when you fear, and fuck the insecurities out of you whenever they raise their ugly little heads. I breathe easier when you’re near and I laugh harder. You make me stronger, and I want to be the one who does the same for you. I want you. And Minty, I’ve never in my life said these words to any woman in a romantic sense, I love you.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
I gathered her up in my arms and held her against my chest. “I’m sure. It’s easy. For me, it’s as simple and necessary and complex as breathing. You’re in my soul.”
“Lucky,” she began.
“You don’t have to say it back, sweetheart. I’ll wait on you,” I promised.
“Captain,” she melted in my arms, “I love you, too. I just, I never, I mean, I hoped, but never expected you to feel the same.”
“Whyever not? My God, I’m so damn thankful no one scooped you up before I got my chance.”
“I just never, I mean, when I decided to find someone, I pictured a man of retirement age-”
“Retirement?” The very idea was ludicrous. “You? You’d give the man a coronary!”
She laughed, the sound like Christmas, and wrapped her arms around my neck.
She pressed her forehead to mine and tilted her chin up so the tips of our noses touched. “I love you, Lucky.”
“Good. So. When are you moving in?”
Minty
Alex, Jace, and George lay on the couches looking at their cell phones. They seemed off kilter somehow.
“Boys. Are we going out or ordering in?”
George shrugged.
Alex tucked his head further into his neck.
