More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Am I a good person?” “Az…” “No, I’m serious. Am I?” “Yes! Good grief. How can you ask that?” “Because good people don’t kill children, Amelia.”
Wait. Our baby. He’d called Oscar our new baby. My insides turned to goo. The kitten was a member of our family. It wasn’t a child, but it was something. Our family. Aslan had made us a family. Without warning, my vision blurred. A hand squeezed around my heart, and I swallowed a lump. Oh god. I was such a sap.
I smiled to myself. So that was it. My use of the word family had lit a fire in Quaid’s core. It made sense. He was a man who dreamed about the future. Someday, I wanted to make all his dreams come true. Marriage, kids, the whole shebang. We hadn’t discussed it, but maybe a kitten was a good launch point. Maybe it would set the ball rolling. I hadn’t told Quaid that I dreamed of those things too, and in my dreams, it was him by my side until we were old and gray.
“Okay fine. I’ll ride. But if I die, I’m going to kill you.” He chuckled by my ear and hugged me tighter. “You’re the most precious thing I own. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” I pulled from his hold and mock-sneered. “You don’t own me, Doyle.” He winked and fit his helmet over his head. “That’s what you think, hot stuff. You’re mine.”
“And you’re not as unlikeable as you come across. First impressions are a bitch, but anyone who gets to know you can see you’re a decent person underneath. You have a big, tender heart in there. You care deeply for people. Ask Eden. Ask my sister. Ask Allison because she sees you. Heck, even Torin and Ruiz can see past your prickly coat of armor.” He hooked a finger with mine and drew me closer. “You might be hard to like, Quaid, but you’re easy to love.”
“Because you’re a Brillo pad, and I’m a soft fluffy kitten.” “Did you just indirectly call me abrasive?” “Yes, I did. I love your smart brain.”
Love wasn’t meant to be shouted from the mountain tops. Love wasn’t supposed to be loud and showy and exuberant. To me, love was quiet and intimate. Love was shared privately between two people. It was an undercurrent. Quaid understood, and he’d learned to read my love in the silences between those words.
Could something this good be sustained indefinitely? How could this much love live inside me? It grew impossibly larger every day. And it was the most terrifying and yet the most beautiful thing in the world. What did someone do with all this love? How could I box it up and keep it forever? How could I possibly express it in a way Quaid would understand?
We lay together afterward, entwined, panting, buzzing with the residual effects of intense orgasms. Quaid brushed his fingers through my hair as I listened to his heart beating under my ear. Strong. Alive. Mine.
“I love you,” he breathed. Those three words would never be enough to express this thing inside me. I squeezed him tighter. I didn’t have to say anything. He knew.
I tore a sticky note from a pad, drew a big heart in the middle with a red pen, then planted a wet kiss on it. In tiny printing, I wrote, My lips were here. I drew an arrow, then stuck the note on the paper bag, grinning to myself
“They say chocolate releases some kind of stimulant similar to when you have sex. Do you think that’s true? I mean, it’s good, but it’s not that good. Maybe it’s masturbation good, but it’s got nothing on the real thing.”
“I will. I promise. I love you.” Aslan grazed his knuckles down my cheek. “Now and always.” Then he headed to the elevator. I smiled once his back was turned. He didn’t always return the sentiment, but he’d gotten creative about telling me he loved me in his own way.
“Please shower with me.” “You just want me to suck your dick.” “So? It helps me relax. Is that a bad thing?” I chuckled. “You’re so needy.” “You know I always return the favor.” “Yes, you do. That mouth is capable of miracles.”
There was no doubt in my mind. I wanted this for the rest of my life.
