Taming of a Rebel

by Eada Friesian

Tori was right. She couldn’t do this in a vacuum.

Validated. It was the first time Miranda ever felt validated. “Is this your life coaching technique?” Tori chuckled lightly and touched her foot into Miranda’s thigh. “This is a friend technique, and I get the sense you could use one.” She could. Friends were always welcome.

Tori gripped the handle on the refrigerator like it was her lifeline. She couldn’t fall for this woman. Nope. They had just started getting to know each other and Miranda was closed off in a way Tori didn’t appreciate.

It was a good thing Tori hadn’t given her tequila because that would be the end of everything. Clothes would be off, and all her barriers would be down. Nothing good ever came of drinking tequila, at least for Miranda. That was how she’d ended her last relationship. Swiftly. Stupidly. And with tequila.

“I always love to eat a good taco.” Tori tossed Miranda a heated look, one that said so much more than the words.

“Does that hurt? When she says things like that?” Miranda took a full plate from Tori. “I guess it does. I never really thought about it before.” “I’m sorry she can’t love you like you deserve.”

Right, last year, when Tori had landed herself on Siena’s doorstep drunk off tequila and sobbing helplessly. That night had turned into a one-night fling between them, and they both swore it would never happen again. Though that was the second time it had happened.

No one ever thought about how much she loved her sister or how many nights she stayed awake worrying about her.

She was purposely putting distance between them because they both knew she wouldn’t be home any time soon.

Oh my god, am I blushing? Was she trying to flirt by talking about kids? Was this what dating with kids was like?

Miranda hummed, her eyes heavy with emotion. “I’m beginning to wonder if you might be worth it.”

“Yeah. All I want is you.”

It might push her to have to take more drastic steps when it came to custody, and that was something she had resisted for the two years since Rebel had been born.

Whether it was a weakness or not, she would catch Tori if she fell. But almost more importantly than that, Miranda trusted that Tori would catch her.

She could so easily fall asleep every night wrapped in these arms and surrounded by Tori. She stiffened.

as though they were made solely for her. Miranda blinked at her train of thought. What the hell was she thinking?

Tori’s breath slowed and deepened, and Miranda looked up from where her head rested on Tori’s shoulder. Her eyes were closed, and her face looked even younger in the post-orgasmic bliss. Miranda smiled, and her heart felt all manner of oversized within her chest. Oh fuck!

What fresh hell was this? Tori was way too close to all of her exes.

Would Tori let Haylee fuck her like Miranda had on their first—she stopped.

Miranda had made the mistake of not going after what she wanted. Not in the right way at least. She was too late to realize exactly who Tori was to her.

Tori was her soulmate.

She groaned into Miranda’s mouth as she tasted the familiar flavor that was Miranda and hints of the coffee that would have gotten her through the day. This was home. Miranda was her soulmate. Tori had no doubt about it now.

“I’ll be all in like you are. No more searching for soulmates while we figure each other out.” Miranda’s lips parted, her eyes fluttering shut. “No one’s ever done that for me.”

“I love you, Tori. I thought soulmates weren’t real. I thought I didn’t believe in them. But if there’s one thing you’ve taught me, and you’ve taught me a lot, it’s that you were right. You’re my soulmate.” Tori’s eyes flew open. Her heart seized in her chest, tightening. Every fiber of her being was frozen on the spot. “What did you say?” “I love you, Tori Frazee, and I’m not willing to give you up.”