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Me Ryan. You pretty. Make fire and baby.
“And what would a guy like you do with one kiss from a girl like me?” “Savor it,” I reply. “Cherish it. Save it for a rainy day.”
This is only the beginning. Because there is no way I’m letting her just walk away. Tess Owens is my dream girl…she just doesn’t know it yet.
“And then Jake found me in Seattle,” she says with a smile. “And when he found me, I found me too. I’m who I’m meant to be now. With them, I’m me. Jake,
Caleb, and Ilmari, they’re my reason. So, I’m not walking down that aisle tonight. I’m running. I’m running to them, Tess. I’m going home.”
“Jake, I love you,” he declares, loud enough for the whole room to hear. “I’ve loved you for ten fucking years. I loved you in secret,” he admits. “I loved you like a coward. I didn’t deserve to be loved by you in return—not until I got out of my own damn way. But I needed a little help. I needed a push.”
“You’ve always been my friend,” Sanford goes on. “Then you became my lover. Tonight, I make you my husband. You’re mine, Jake Price.
You’re mine, and I’m never letting go.”
“I see someone who loves her friends,” I go on. “Someone who puts others first. Maybe I like the idea of being the one who gets to put you first. I like taking care of people, Tess. And I take excellent care of what’s mine.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he says with a smirk, those apple green eyes blown black with hunger. “I have no problem with toys. But I’m not giving away my first shot with Tess Owens. I’m not taking the assist.
This orgasm is mine. Now, get on the fucking bed.”
The truth is that I’m falling hard for this woman, and from everything I see and feel, she’s just…falling. And I don’t know how to catch her. I don’t know how to make it stop. And she won’t give me a goddamn clue. It’s driving me insane.
Oh my god, I’m dead. Here lies Tess, passed away from too much sexual tension.
Forget Mars and secrets. Forget everything. Forget my own damn name. This woman is the only thing that matters.
I want all of you. Every hour. Every day. No other woman compares to you. Fuck, you kill me, Tess. I can’t breathe when you look at me, and I die when you look away. Tell me I can have you.”
“Because life is short, Ryan. Life is beautiful and short, and you only get one. Live it on purpose.”
“Ryan Charles Langley,” she says, tears in her eyes. “I’m in love with you.”
“Outside these walls, I’ll be Langley’s girl. I’ll go to your games and wear your number and cheer for you. But we both know that inside these walls, you’re Tess’s boy.”
I smile up at him. “And now, tonight, I ran out here to find you. Ryan, I ran to you. I ran home. And now I’m done running.”
“He’s my mirror ball. His every surface reflects my perfections back at me. He loves me for exactly who I am. I’m not too loud for him or too opinionated. He doesn’t cringe when I tell jokes because he’s worried I’m funnier than him, pulling away his spotlight. He lets my light shine out as brightly as I want, and he shines it all back on me. I have never known a love or an acceptance of self like I have with Ryan.”
My Tess. The cataclysm that came and shook me up. Now she’s mine to love. Mine to cherish. Mine to make happy for the rest of my lucky fucking life. I smile, kissing her perfect lips.
I pull out the card and as soon as I open it, the chorus of Taylor Swift’s “All of the Girls You Loved Before” starts playing. Damn it. She knows that’s my favorite Swift song. I call it my ‘Tess Song.’
