Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“I thought I dreamed you were back,” he said, his voice full of awe. “You were here.”
I nodded. “I was. I missed you.”
He blinked, those green eyes so like his father’s. “I missed you too, Ren,” he began softly. “I was scared you wouldn’t come back.”
“I was too,” I admitted, kissing the top of his head. “But your dad brought me back.” Because he’d given his word, and even if he didn’t want me forever, he was a man of his word.
“I had a dream about the bad guys,” he admitted softly.
My throat went tight until it was almost impossible to swallow. “You don’t have to worry about them anymore, Mattie. You’re safe, and so am I.”
He nodded solemnly, hugging me tighter one more time before he pulled back, a slow smile forming on his face. “Pancakes for breakfast?” he asked hopefully.
I laughed softly. “Today is definitely a day for pancakes.”
For a few hours, I went through the motions. First breakfast and then a walk outside. I got lost in the story during reading time; I smiled when I needed to and laughed when it was expected, but my mind kept drifting back to the empty space beside me.
To the fact that I still hadn’t set eyes on Enzo all day. A deliberate choice, no doubt.
By the time Mattie went down for his afternoon nap, my chest felt hollow.
Needing to do something other than think about my broken heart, I made my way to the bedroom where I’d been staying with Enzo and pulled out the bags I still hadn’t unpacked from the cabin. I hadn’t unpacked them, which meant I must’ve known that this was just a temporary diversion.
My time with Enzo and Mattie was ending. I knew it, and I still handed my heart over to them both.
“Ren?” Enzo’s voice sounded from the doorway. There was a hint of vulnerability and uncertainty in his tone that didn’t sit right with me.
“Yeah?” I stood, smoothed my hands over my clothes, and braced myself.
He stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. He looked tired, that kind of bone-deep exhaustion that had nothing to do with lack of sleep, just stress and loss. But when his eyes met mine, something eased in his expression.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up,” he said quietly. “I needed to… there was a lot of shit to deal with last night. I had to make sure everything was handled.”
Handled. He said the word like it was some item on a list to check off. “I figured,” I said, aiming for casual and missing by a mile.
He crossed the room in two strides and stopped in front of me. “Ren,” he said in a gentle growl. “Look at me.”
I took a deep breath and looked up at him.
“I love you,” he said simply. There was no hesitation and no qualifiers. “I never stopped loving you.”
His words knocked the breath out of me.
Enzo raked a shaky hand through his thick hair. “I hate that this is how we found our way back to each other,” he continued, his voice low. “But I can’t resent it because we’re here now. You’re here.” His hand lifted, hovering near my cheek for just a moment before his big hand cupped my face so gently that a tear slid down my cheek. “I want a life with you, Ren. So fucking bad.”
I want that too. My eyes burned.
“But,” he added, honest as ever, “asking you to uproot your life and move to California with me and Mattie—that shit feels so fucking unfair. I won’t do that to you.”
Relief hit first. Then love, so sharp it hurt. I held his face in both of my hands. “Do you want me there?” I asked in a soft but insistent voice, because I needed to know.
His answer came quick and sure. “Yes.”
Relief pulsed through me so viscerally my legs buckled. I let my forehead fall to his chest and let out a shaky laugh. “Good, because that’s what I want too, Enzo. A life with you and with Mattie.”
His arms wrapped around me as if he would never let me go. In that embrace was a promise of forever, and I leaned into it with my whole heart. “We’ll have a good life, Ren. I promise.”
I nodded. “I know, Enzo. I’m not scared.” Maybe I should’ve been a little wary, but I wasn’t. We’d survived this mess, and I knew we could survive whatever came next.
He kissed me then, slow and tender. Every touch reminded me that we were here together. Every kiss grounded me in the moment. There was no sense of urgency, just warmth and love and certainty. Enzo undressed me with gentle hands, but the heat in his gaze as he stared at me was hot enough to singe.