There’s something about Lexi, something that feels right. We fit perfectly, like the bullet in the barrel of a gun. You can’t use one without the other, that’s exactly how I feel about us. I can’t be me without her, not the real me.
“That day people finally noticed what was going on in that house. When the neighbors were questioned, they swore they didn’t even know she had a son.”
A tear escapes her eye but she swipes it away angrily before pushing her shoulders back and lifting her hands to my face. Her fingers running through the scruff before she pulls me down toward her. “I love you.”
My eyes widen at those three words: three words that render me speechless, three words that mean every single thing to me.
I slam my lips down onto hers, swiping my tongue in her mouth, not asking or begging but taking. My chest heaves as I place my hands under her ass, lifting her and letting her wrap her legs around me.
Her hands hold onto either side of my neck as I spin around to the hood, letting her down and pushing her onto her back as I continue to pour everything I feel into one kiss.
“I love you, too,” I breathe out when I pull back, my eyes drifting over her swollen lips and up to her beautiful hazel eyes.
We stare at each other for several seconds before I lift her up and hold her against me not willing to let her go: the lifeline that I’ve been searching for all of these years.
“Thank you for telling me,” she whispers, her breath flowing over my neck.
I don’t answer her, instead I pull her closer, telling her without words what I want to say to her: that I’d tell her everything if I could.
I close my eyes, basking in the feel of his arms around me as my heart breaks for the little boy who was mistreated so badly by the one person who should have loved him unconditionally.
His hands shake as he pulls back and frames my face, letting me see everything in his honey eyes, the gold darker as he stares at me for several seconds before leaning forward and pressing his lips against mine softly.
“Evan!” Both of our heads whip to the side and toward the big house that sits opposite the warehouse. “Are you ever gonna come in? I’m wasting away here!” Luke shouts, leaning against the railing of the wraparound porch.
I swallow, my nerves taking over as I turn back around to Evan, my gaze clashing with his.
“Come on,” he says, his voice gruff as he places his arm around my shoulders.
We walk over the gravel and toward Luke, his eyes firmly on us before his hand reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell. I tilt my head as I watch him pace back and forth as he ignores it and pushes it back into his jeans pocket and storms into the house, leaving the door open for us.
“So…” Evan starts as we step inside the house. “Kay has a…”
I gasp as a black dog trots over to us, sitting down and watching us, his head tilting to the side as he tries to make a decision whether we’re a threat or not. Evan’s hand grips my shoulder, his muscles tense as his breath skitters out of him.
“A dog,” I whisper, finishing his sentence for him.
I frown, wondering why they would have a dog when they know what Evan went through, but when my gaze snaps up to Evan’s, I realize that they don’t know.
Does that mean that I’m the only one that… my stomach tumbles and a warmth flows through me, feeling like I’m even closer to him.
“Monty!” We hear Kay’s voice before we see her and then she comes barreling toward us. “Heel.”
Monty—the dog—looks up at her and then seems to silently communicate something with her before he spins around and trots through the door that Kay came out of.
“Hey,” she says, stepping forward and pulling me in for a hug. “I’m so glad you came—”
“Mom! Luke said we can watch a movie before we eat.”
Kay rolls her eyes but a smile lifts the corner of her lips as she turns to face the boy who is coming out of a room to the right.
“Eli? Come and say hello to Evan’s girl—” She stops suddenly, her eyes wide as her gaze bats back and forth between Evan and me.
I smile at the boy who comes to stand beside Kay, his green eyes so bright that I nearly gasp. “Hey.” I wave, not knowing what else to say or do. I haven’t been around kids for so long that I’m not sure how to act.
“You’re Lexi?” he asks, giving nothing away in his features.
“I…” I turn my gaze back toward Evan before looking down at the boy. “I am.”