“Holyshitthat was intense.”
Connor whistled lowly as he slumped down next to her and pulled her half into his lap. I eased down on her other side, bringing her legs into my lap and then leaning in to kiss her deeply. Slowly, she pulled away, grinning at me before turning and kissing Connor just as deeply.
“That was pretty fucking wild of you, honey,” I chuckled, shaking my head.
She bit her lip coyly, her eyes sparkling. “So, I guess I’m payed up in full?”
Con and I both laughed as she joined in with her own musical giggle.
Connor grinned down at her with a sly smile. “Well, you’ve definitely taken care of the down payment, babe.”
I slipped my hand up and down her thigh, stroking her supple skin, and Abby looked up into my eyes. “Stay,” I said quietly, swallowing the lump in my chest. I looked over at Connor, who nodded.
“You should stay, baby,” he said, stroking her arms.
Abby turned to look at him before darting her eyes to mine. “For- for how long?”
“For forever,” I said without hesitation. “Stay forever, because honey?” I glanced at Connor before I looked her right in the eye. “I fuckin’ love you. I love you more than anything I’ve ever felt before.”
Her eyes went wide as the flush crept into her cheeks.
“I love you too, Abby - we both do, unconditionally,” Connor murmured, stroking her face with his hands and leaning in to kiss the top of her head. “You don’t have to say a damn thing back, but just say you’ll stay.”
Abby closed her eyes and took a deep breath for single second before she slowly opened them back up. “Okay.”
My jaw dropped. “Okay like you’ll stay?”
She bit her lip. “Okay like I’ll definitely stay, as long as you let me say one more thing.”
“Anything,” Connor growled.
“I love you too -bothof you.”
Epilogue
Abby
With River and Jacob, we all had a pretty good idea whose father was whose. River had Jackson’s shocking blue eyes and blonde hair, while Jacob turned out to pretty plainly have his father’s darker hair and complexion. But when Matthew was born, it got a little tougher.
I loved that.
I loved all three of our kids, of course, but it was Matthew - our third - that you really saw the ambiguousness of all three of us, which was perfect. Sure, there were paternity tests, but honestly, it never mattered to any of us after that first night under the desert moon. After that, we were one unit - one family, however different, and however unlike the norm.
So our children were just that -ourchildren, and they were fortunate enough to have two amazing fathers each.
As you may have guessed, I stayed in Parker, and we’ve been here ever since. Anywhere else, and the three of us living who we were out in the open may have caused a lot of problems, but people in Parker were a different sort. Here, people just wanted to be who they were. Plus, despite their outlaw ways, it turned out Connor and Jackson had a bit of a reputation as “Robin Hood” type figures around these parts. Sure, they’d lived outside the law their whole lives, but they never forgot where they came from, or the town that helped them both when they’d found themselves without families too young.
Joe went to prison, and once they found out how high in the food chain he was, they hit him with everything they had. He’s up for parole in about fifty years.
If Con and Jacks had hastheirway, we’d have stayed in that house out in middle of nowhere just fine, but I’d like to think I brought a little civility to the relationship. We weren’t going to move right downtown or anything, but we did find a place notquiteso isolated. It even had a three-bay garage, and soon enough, Outlaw Engines becametheplace in the entire southwest to get a bike tuned up, if you were in the know.
Yeah, my two men turned in their criminal tendencies for a little stability. Ineverasked them to do that, of course, but I know all three of us had the same idea about where we wanted to be in life.
Besides, behind closed doors, I can assure you that they are both stillveryvery bad.
In thebestway you can imagine.
We might not be the model family, or the cookie-cutter mold of what everyone says we should be, but it works. And honestly? Normalcy is for suckers, and I can’t imagine a more perfect happy ending than the one I’ve got with my two outlaws.
The End