“Shh. I’m not leaving you. I just meant that we should get to know each other. Betsy and Ink. Daddy and button. There’s no rush to dive into anything deeper. We’ll date and play and have some fun.”
“Fun?”
“Yeah, brown eyes. Fun. I’m gonna show you what fun feels like. And as much as I want to fuck you, and I do. Believe me, it burns me from the inside out that I haven’t, we’re gonna take our time. Got it?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine.”
He had to grin at the disgruntlement. “Now, brown eyes, no pouting.”
“Does this mean that I can’t...that there will be no…”
“Brown eyes,” he said in a stern voice.
She raised her gaze to his, surprised.
“Tell me what you need.”
“I want Little time.” She blushed as she said it.
“You can have all the Little time you need. You know I need it too, right?”
She nodded, looking relieved.
“This isn’t me rejecting you. This is me saying that we need to be Betsy and Ink without all the other bullshit. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly. “I’m going to find your boys.”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault they took off. They’re hellions. Seriously. I’m not sure if it was because Rex ignored them and they needed a strong male figure or what, but I’m shocked they stayed at that school as long as they did without getting kicked out or sneaking out.”
“Apparently they were close to staging a revolt,” he told her.
“Sounds about right. Please, Ink, don’t blame yourself. They’re a law unto themselves.”
She was worried about Royal and Baron, but those boys could take care of themselves.
So long as Forrest didn’t get his hands back on them.
But she had faith in Ink and she hated that he was blaming himself. She had a feeling he did that a lot.
Even though she understood that Duke was trying to look out for her, she wished he hadn’t said anything. Now that she was free from Forrest, she felt impatient. Even though the outside world was scary as hell, she felt ready to start her life. To move forward.
And she wanted to do that with Ink.
She knew her feelings for him were likely tied up with the fact that he’d rescued her, but she didn’t think that was wrong. She had been falling for him before he became her very own hero. So she knew that this wasn’t hero-worship. This wasn’t because she thought he could keep her safe or any of that bullshit. She didn’t have some savior complex for him. Yeah, she’d had a fucked up life.
But to her that just made it clearer that life was short.
And she’d wasted far too much of it being afraid. And lonely.
However, she knew she wouldn’t dissuade him from this course. And as long as he wasn’t rejecting her outright, she’d go along with it.
But she knew at the end of the day, he’d be hers.
And that she was already his.
“Did Brody find anything we could use against Forrest?”