The Ex Effect (Washington Wolves, #2)

by Karla Sorensen

Oh, I knew Matthew Hawkins all right. My sister's ex-fiancé, and the man I'd had a ridiculous crush on in high school, simply because he'd been nice to me.

"I've missed you," I said into his chest, letting the work-shield down for just a second, just a tiny crack, just to say the words, even if they were so quiet that I hoped he didn't hear me. But he did. "Missed you too, Slim," he said back. I was so officially off-the-charts screwed.

"Still keep chocolate within arm’s reach at all times?" "As do all intelligent people who enjoy being happy." I grinned.

This Ava seemed impervious, and I added it to the list of things I wondered about her.

Enough. What a safe, invulnerable word for such a smart, beautiful, and interesting woman to use.

Because instead of telling her how beautiful I found her, I heard myself say something completely different. "You don't look anything like your sister."

Matthew Hawkins was looking at me as though he was recording every part of my face. Not cataloging it as he had been earlier but committing it to his memory. "What I meant to say was that you are incredibly beautiful, Ava. It has nothing to do with who you're related to, or how I might've known you a handful of years ago. I'm just glad to be sitting across from you right now."

Why would I ever want to do anything that might make you cry? It would break my heart."

"If you find a woman attractive and are interested in getting to know more about her, just walk up like a man who knows what he wants. Tell her your name and ask her what hers is. Don't make shit-heel kissy faces and assume that will do anything except make you look like a chump who's still waiting for his chest hair to grow in."

After careful consideration, I changed my mind about the positions. Even if it sidelined me, I'd risk any injury for you.

I smiled up at him. "You. You make me happy."

Give me more, I wanted to yell. More. Everything. Let me fix what they broke. Trust me with what was inside.

"I'm in love with you, Ava. But I don't think you're ready to hear it yet." Only then could I relax enough to fall asleep.

"Yeah. But I want to be able to say that you're mine. I don't want things to feel so easy that I stop making an effort for you every single day. I want to be able to say that I have a girlfriend, a partner who gets all the best parts of me because I get all the best parts of her. That we've committed to something together."

When you try to make someone different than what they really are is when you get disappointed."

People forget that the quiet guy in the corner is usually quiet so he can figure everyone out."

"I am in love with you, Matthew Hawkins, and I'll risk any recourse, any complication, and any fallout for you to trust in that more than you've ever trusted in anything."

"I want this, between us, to be the truest and most constant thing you've ever known because that's what it is for me. And I know you were mad at me. You had every right to be furious over what happened, but I'll earn your forgiveness out of sheer force of will if I have to."

My face flushed hot with relief, and I smiled a little. "I'm in love with you, Matthew Hawkins." Matthew braced his hands on the wall, effectively caging me in. His forehead rested against mine, and he exhaled. "Again." I smoothed my hands up his chest and gripped his neck tightly. "I'm in love with you." He kissed my temple, then my cheek, the tip of my nose, on either side of my mouth, just shy of my lips, which sought out his. He chuckled. "Again," he whispered over my lips. "I'm so in love with—"

"Anywhere," I told him honestly. "I'll go anywhere as long as I get to be with you."

“Slim, I want you to be my wife. I want to wake up every single day knowing that you’re there, that I get to be there for you, and that I can love you through anything we might face because I know you’ll do the same for me.”