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“You love me?”
“Amelia. I asked you a question. Do you love me?”
“Yes,” I say, slapping his hand away and finally giving in to the tears that have been threatening all day. “Yes, I love you, you infuriating asshole! Believe me, right now I wish I didn’t—but I love you, Drake James. With all my stupid, foolish heart.”
“Good,” he says, dragging me into his arms and holding me there even as I struggle against him. “That’s good to know, Miss Ryder.” He cups my cheek much more tenderly than before while he stares into my eyes. “Because I love you too. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my entire stupid, foolish life.”
can make me forget my own name—loves me? “You do?” “I do.” He seals his lips over mine and kisses me so hard that I almost forget what we were arguing about.
She’s so soft. So warm. So mine.
but now that I know she loves me? They’re un-fucking-believable. I think I said it to her a million times last night. That and how sorry I was for acting like a pathetic asshole.
Yeah, I love her, but I still want to rail into her like an animal.
“Well, good morning, man that I love,”
“I am, baby. I love you so
much. But right now I want to fuck your brains out.”
“I love you, Amelia,” I say, my face sinking against the velvety skin of her back. “I can’t imagine my life without you in it.
I love you and you love me, and this stuff shouldn’t need to be so complicated. I know there are work headaches, but we’ll find a way around them. I want you involved in every aspect of my life. And I want to show you off to my family.”
He swept her up in a big hug, dancing her around the room in a way that I wouldn’t let any other man do.
“Come on, let me show you our Hall of Shame. Unless you’re not interested in seeing baby pictures of Drake?”
“Oh, I so am,” she replied, casting a quick look back at me to check in. I nodded and th...
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“Can I hold him?” Amelia asks nervously, looking at the squirming bundle of chunky baby in Mel’s arms.
“God, yes, please do.” She passes him over, and he immediately spits up on Amelia’s shoulder.
Mel chats away to my girlfriend, and Amelia laughs as the kid whacks her in the face with one of his chubby fists. I know she’s always wanted children and that Chad kept stalling. I hate that he hurt her
“You happy, brother?” Maddox says, passing me an old fashioned. “Because you look pretty damn happy. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that particular look on your face before.”
“The look that says you’ve finally discovered what true love is.”
Out of all of us James boys, he’s probably the one who’s fallen in love the most.
“Yeah, I think I have, Mad.”
“I’m sorry. Of course. Amelia, what can I do?” “Just be with me, Drake. Just be with us.” “I can do that, mi rosa,” he says, pulling a chair over to sit next to me.
With Drake at my side, I talk. I tell her how much love I have in my heart for her. I thank her for everything she gave to me, everything she gave up for me. I promise her that I will be strong—that even though I will miss her, I will go on living, just as she would want me to. I tell her I will never forget her. I tell her goodbye.
“What’s best for me?” she echoes. “And you get to decide that, do you? I don’t get a say in the matter?”
“Is that what we’ve been doing, Drake? Wasting each other’s time? And here’s me, thinking we were loving each other. Thinking we had something special. What a goddamn fool I am.”
What the hell have I done?
I was willing to take the chance. To take that leap of faith. I loved him enough to risk it all. And now, of course, I’m paying the price. I feel like I’ll never be right again. I have lost too many parts of myself in too short a time,
He can’t have it both ways. He either wants me or he doesn’t, there are no half measures. The way I feel about Drake is all-consuming, and I won’t do this whole “taking a break” dance. If he’s not all in, then he’s all out.
The truth? I did it because I was scared. There. I said it. I was scared shitless of how much I love her. How much I need her. How much I had to lose.
Hell yeah. With her, I want everything she’s willing to give.
“I’m sorry. I was a jackass, and I can’t live without you.”
I haven’t cried in front of anyone since my mom died, but I broke that rule tonight, and they were here for me.
How do I not give up on it when the only woman I’ve ever loved is currently falling back in love with her douchefuck ex-husband? How do I not give up when I’ve lost the other half of my fucking soul?
I decided to take a leaf out of Miley Cyrus’s book and buy my own damn flowers. It’s a declaration of self-love
“And why, exactly, would I be willing to help you, Chad?” He meets my eyes, and his face crumples. “Because they’ve taken Amelia.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarl. “Who’s taken Amelia?”
And that’s good news because fuck knows money means nothing to me compared to my girl.
“And Chad, remember this—she’s your ex-wife. Once I get her back, she’s my future wife. You understand?”
“He’s taken someone. Someone I love the way you love Jessie.”
“Your greed put Amelia in danger. Your arrogance left her there for over a day. You are nothing but scum.”
She crumbles. I hold out my arms, and she falls into them, tears running down her face, heavy sobs racking her body. “Drake!” She chokes out my name,
“Shh, baby. I’ve got you now.”
“Will you stay with me?” I hold her tighter, pressing my lips against her temple. “Yeah, baby. I’ll stay with you forever.”
I’m the only one who holds the title of “the man in her life” takes a little of the edge off. “It wasn’t me, mi rosa. Chad owed them some money.”
The sparkle in her eyes warms my heart. She’s so fucking beautiful, inside and out.
“Wow. Have I ever told you that I love you, Drake James?” She laughs, but then she freezes. She used to tell me that she loved me all the time. I never took it for granted and it always felt special, but our time apart taught me exactly how special it was. I hate the way she’s looking at me now, as though she thinks she made a mistake.
“You have,” I reply quickly. “But I can never hear it enough. I love you too, mi rosa, and whenever you’re ready, we can talk things through.”
“If we have an hour to wait until food, would you maybe like to get in here with me? It’s big enough for two.”
