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I’m covered in grime and in the middle of a job, but my dad taught me no matter what, when family calls, you answer. Family is more important than any job, any repair, anything,
The thing about being the little brother is I live to annoy my sisters.
“Son, one day you’ll have someone in your life, and you’ll realize you’d do anything to keep her happy, even if it means letting her sit your son down and bustin’ his balls with feminist chats and conversations on how to treat a woman. There are worse things, bud. Just accept it. If not for whatever future lady you have in your life, then for your old man who doesn’t want to hear his wife bitchin’ all night about the piece of scum son they’re raising.”
No one has ever made me feel anything but proud of my choices. With that in mind, I live my life with one true rule: be me and nothing else. Take me or leave me.
What is wrong with me? This man has me so frazzled, which is not like me.
I wonder how much of his personality is that: just happy to be here, glad to be alive. He seems to be that kind of person. I wonder what that’s like, to live like that?
She relaxes a fraction, and something about that pleases me, the ability to calm this force of a woman.
At that moment, I make my decision. I’m going to keep her. I’m going to keep this woman. Fuck her matching me up.
I like her. And I need to convince her to give me a chance with her, not some random woman she thinks would work.
have no one to make the call all girls need to make when a man shakes their world. And that is the only way to explain what on earth happened last night.
It’s the girl. Knowing she exists, knowing I found her, gives me the energy I need to get through this long day.
She’s the girl. And then we talked, and I learned more about her, even if she didn’t want to share, and it was cemented. I learned what she likes and what she doesn’t. Not just from her work, but by reading her, taking in how she reacts, how she treats others around her, how she endures my teasing, the teasing of my friends. She’s the girl.
His laugh flows through the line and through my veins, filling it with the warmth he always seems to bring.
“A woman in heels is sexy as fuck. A man looks at a woman in heels, he instantly thinks about wrapping them around his back or bending her over to fuck her from behind while she’s still wearing them—”
“A woman in flats tells me she’s comfortable with me, a woman I can take home to meet my parents, a woman I can take out for a night with my friends, show off, and then take home, strip naked, and do unbelievably dirty things to.”
“Use your words, sweetheart.
“Good girl,”
His boyish smile both puts me at ease and makes me want to jump his bones, which is so far from my usual MO.
“I know what dating is, but this is… unconventional. We’re temporary. Just until the wedding.” “You can think that.”
“You call yourself that again, I’m gonna get pissed. You’re not a booty call. This is you giving me a shot.”
“She’s it.” I feel dumb saying it out loud, but it’s… it’s the truth. Cassandra is what my mom was to my dad. I’ve fought the knowledge for a week, feeling crazy all the same. But something sparked when I found her on the side of the road. When I was amused by her attitude and anxiety. It escalated on our first date when I forced her to open up to me, when she blended so well with my friends, enjoying herself once she loosened up. The final nail was our night together, learning her body and seeing how fucking well she suits me. But her hesitance. Her fear, regardless of how warranted it is…
You’re not like that at all.” Quinn is getting frustrated for me, ready to go to war if needed to protect her little brother. It’s sweet but unnecessary.
“Just two weeks?” “I know it’s going to be more than two weeks. She doesn’t.”
“I read romance. Like, a lot of it. It’s a problem, but we’re not talking about me yet. But Cassie, this… this is everything good. He wants you. He wants you to be his. He wants to work with you, meet you where you are, and get past your barriers. Oh my God! It was love at first sight.”
“You might know red flags, but I know green ones. And this man is a fuckin’ leprechaun.”
“Oh, shut up. Oh my God, his photos on Instagram are so cute. His nieces! He accepted you, by the way. Cassie, if you fuck this up, I’m taking him for myself.” The woods tumble before I can filter them. “No way, he’s mine.” An eyebrow raises, but she doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t have to. I showed my hand. “Fuck, what am I doing?” My head falls back to the couch with a soft squish, but I wish it were a brick wall.
something tells me if I let this man in for one day or two weeks or two years, he’s going deep.
And scraping him out is going to hurt. God, it’s barely been a week and already he’s changing how I see my relationships, breaking all my rules, making me question things.
I just… I need to watch her. I need to see her and know she’s okay. My gut is urging me to do so in a way I can’t explain.
I’ll let her handle all of it until someone puts their fucking hands on her. Then the game is over.
Her voice goes softer, the anger still there but subdued with worry. Something warms me, knowing she’s concerned about me more than she cares about her own injury.
I gotta take care of my woman right now. Please, don’t make this any more difficult by fighting with me
I think you’re beautiful, inside and out, and the business you’ve built is a sign of that.”
This is your business. You do it great. I will never stop you.
“I am not the kind of man to sit back and watch something like that happen. If you were some stranger, I’d have done the same thing. I might have had my head on a bit more straight, but it doesn’t matter. That man was fucked as soon as he touched you and you said no. There is never an excuse for that shit.”
You need to know this about me now. I will protect what is mine until my last fuckin’ breath. If someone says something to hurt you, I’m talkin’ to them. Someone fuckin’ touches you, I’m sure as fuck making sure they never do it again. I know you’re proud, know you’re strong. I know you can handle yourself; you’ve done it for long enough. But now I’m here. Three weeks, three years, or a fuckin’ eternity, right now you’re mine. You got that? You being mine means I take care of you.”
you want to be mine, you need to know I’m sticking up for you. I’m taking care of what’s mine.”
“So are you mine? You say no, I drive you home right now, no problem. No hard feelings. But you say yes, just know that’s what I expect. You need to let me in, let me take care of you.”
“I’ll be yours, Luke.” And that’s all I need.
Cass’ eyes drift to me at being called ‘my Cassie,’ and I just smile because what else can I do. Eventually, she’s going to see this for what it is. She’s my Cassie, and she’ll look back at this with a different lens.
“I want that. Yes. Of course. I want the dream. But I also know it’s not handed to you. You need to work for it. Your history, your past, your family? Make you who you are. It made those walls you built, but it doesn’t mean you can’t have something beautiful.” My breath hitches with his words, with the meaning. But I don’t have to decode them, don’t have to guess.
“You give me the chance, Cass, I’d kill to show you how beautiful life can be when you let your walls down, when you let people in.”
would
Because I fucked up and I fell for this man, and I am going to get hurt, and I will never, ever be fine again.
I’ve found Luke likes to have his hands touching me in some way if I’m within reach.
“You’ll be gorgeous no matter what, whether you take two hours or two minutes.”
But she proved to me even if you do your best to be everything for a man, there’s just no guarantee he’ll be yours forever.
“From now on, it’s my job to make sure you know how fucking beautiful you are. To make sure you don’t question it, and when you look in the mirror, you only see beauty. When you see spots you used to hate, you remember me kissing them. Make sure you know how fucking gorgeous I think every damn inch of you is.”
“You think I’m going to let you cry in my arms over this fuckwad and the way he makes you feel and let him pull this hours later? Do you think I’m going to let him think he got to you, let him miss out on seeing you, fucking beautiful and intelligent and sweet? Absolutely not. Chin up, sweetheart. Open your eyes. I’m not backing down until you have everything you deserve. And after, I’m sticking around to make sure you keep it.”
Luke passed with flying colors, smiling and keeping an arm tight around me. Calling me his girl, both outright to whoever asked and with his body language. Regardless of the expensive beauty filling the room, I never once found his eyes anywhere but on me.
