Too Fast (Boys of Lake Chapel #2)

by Abby Millsaps

I don’t want to go back to how things were before. I want her fire. Her playfulness. Her sass. Her spark. She calms Kylian like no one ever has. She lifts up Locke when he’s down, peeling back the layers of pain and resentment he wears like armor.

“Now you have a choice. You can let me be—let me cope with the fallout of this ordeal and do what I need to do to convince myself she’s okay, too—or you can try to control the situation. ‘Try’ is the operative word in that sentence, because I’m done doing things your way when it comes to my girl.”

“I’m just making sure you know where I stand, baby. It’s me and you. Plus him. And maybe them.”

“I want to be good for you.”

That’s so hot when a man says it 😩

Greedy isn’t sleeping in the corner where his pile of blankets was when I stepped into the bathroom. And he isn’t on the love seat near the door to the balcony, which would probably be his most comfortable option. No, he’s on the floor, close to Hunter’s side, positioned between her and the door.

😭😭😭

it takes a few extra seconds to identify the combination, but once the musk and warm vanilla register in my olfactory senses, I go stiff.

KENDRICK?!

“Snuggling you,” he yawns. Casually. As if it’s a regular thing for us. “Why?” I demand, still trapped in his warm, comforting hold. Another yawn. Then I swear I feel a featherlight touch brush along my side and bare hip where my shirt has risen up. “You were whimpering.”

“You were. It wasn’t one little whine, either. You were going on for a while. As soon as I got into bed, you stopped. I’m here. I’ve got you. Go back to sleep.”

“You were sleeping just fine right here beside me for the last two hours, Mama.”

Why is mama hot 😭

“It was easier to hate you than to admit I wanted you, too. You’ve been in my head since the moment we met, Jojo. I’m done fighting it. I know the deal. I don’t know the details yet, but I want in, too.”

You deserve to be fought for, not fought over. You deserve to be vindicated—which is exactly what I’m gonna do. The motherfucking South Chapel Sharks need to know what happens when they try to take what’s ours.” “Ours?” I ask, hypnotized by his closeness, his presence, the intensity of his gaze. “Ours. We were a mess without you, Jojo. When I saw how the boys all responded, saw how they need you… I couldn’t keep denying that I need you, too.”

“We can’t go through that again. You can’t leave, because we need you. You belong with us. I won’t let anyone come between us now that we have you back, Josephine—not even you.”

He nuzzles the top of my head, then he dips lower, speaking directly into my ear. “I won’t hold you captive, Josephine. But I’ll do everything in my power to make you stay.”

“Because you can’t stop trying to save me.”

A smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Either I’ve only recently noticed them, or they’ve developed since she’s been here. Regardless, I find myself seeking them out anytime she’s near. Like craning back to find the first star in the night sky after stepping outside.

I’ll destroy them. Not just the videos, but the perpetrators who thought they could put a fucking hand on my girl before I even knew she was mine.

“I get it, brother. I do.

Brother 😩😩😩

“Fuck, Jojo. My heart beats for you. My body burns for you. I’m gonna fill you up with so much proof you won’t ever doubt me again.”

“You just can’t handle knowing you weren’t as in control of this situation as you let yourself believe.”

Dayummmm Kyl!

I know your first instinct is to protect, but there’s no danger here. She doesn’t need protection. She just needs you.”

As soon as you put it on, the message will be clear: you’re a Crusaders girl, but you also have my respect and protection.”

I don’t blame her. She’s going to need universal, holy support if Greedy catches sight of her with his name on the back.

Carefully, I rise and steady myself. The instant I do, Decker eases up on the throttle, and he doesn’t resume speed until after I’ve shuffled to the other side of the vessel and am seated.

“You’re all fighting over whose room she’s going to sleep in this weekend, aren’t you?”

It’s mind-boggling how a single person can change one’s entire perspective on life. That’s what she’s done. She’s flipped the script. Nothing makes sense anymore.

but Locke is standing in front of his locker, still in his full kit. He’s got his helmet in one hand, his phone in the other. And he’s smiling at the screen like it holds all the secrets of the universe.

Someday, she’ll sit with our kids, comforting our son or laughing alongside our daughters. She loves me.

The mansion feels like home. You all feel like safety…

“It’s a promise to ourselves that we’ll put each other first. Always. It’s unconventional, but it’s beautiful and real.

He kisses me back with an intensity that’s akin to a claiming, his mouth forcing mine to yield and react to his as he dominates the moment.