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I don’t say any more about my mum; I have no idea how she would handle this news, but I know that tonight isn’t the night to discuss it. Not when I just got him back. There will be plenty of time after this to figure everything out. That’s what Key has given us.Time.

I look at her now—her wild curls fluttering in the breeze, the emerald of her eyes harder to make out in the moonlight, but still they appear to shine under the stars, her lips curling subtly as I keep my gaze fixed on her, unable to look away. It hits me with full force just howmuchshe’s given me; I have no idea how I can ever repay her. I will never know how to give her back even afractionof all she’s handed over to me, for no other reason than she’s just that sort. As if she’s some sort of angel personified, sent to me when I needed her most.

I take a step closer and grab her hand, holding it in mine as my face splits into a wide grin, one that she returns instantly. If it weren’t for my da standing a few short feet away, I’d be pulling her into my arms, kissing her senseless if only to try to express some tiny part of what I’m feeling. Instead, I tug her into my side, pressing a kiss to her hair and breathing in the soft scent of her, letting the knowledge that I will be able to whenever I like in the years to come wash over me.

“Oi, what’s this?” I hear my da’s soft chuckle, and when I look at him, his arms are crossed over his chest as he eyes the pair of us. “It seems you havea lotto tell me, aye?”

Key is still smiling when I look down at her, and I can feel the weight of it mirrored in my own face, my cheeks almost hurting with the force of it. I can’t remember ever smiling like this before I met her. My life has been a never-ending parade of disappointment, of fear, of uncertainty—but there is nothing uncertain about the way I feel when I look at her.

There will always be things in this world that remain unknown to me, but one thing I can know for sure is the way I feel about her. And I know that whenever I’m unable to find my way, she’ll be there with an outstretched hand, ready to show me.

That, I think, is a love most people search for—and yet hers came right to my door.

“Aye,” I finally manage to answer, my voice thick now as well. I smile a wee bit wider, unable to tear my gaze away from this woman who gave me everything without ever needing to be asked, and I feel, for the first time, that everything really will be all right. As long as she’s with me. “Aye, we really do.”

35

Keyanna

He’s still sleeping when I come to; I stretch my arms up over my head before rolling onto my side, tucking my hands under my cheek as I watch him. His dark golden hair falls loosely over his brow, his soft mouth parted slightly as he snores quietly. I smile to myself as I snuggle closer; it’s still a novelty to be able to wake up with him like this, even after two weeks of doing so. His bed is still too small, and he hogs most of it in the night, but I don’t care about any of that because he’s warm and solid andhere—and I’m finally starting to settle into the belief that he won’t suddenly be gone when I wake up one morning.

“You’re being a creeper again, aren’t you.”

My grin widens, and I shift up on my elbow, leaning to press my mouth to his. “I was just thinking about the easiest way to strangle you with the sheets you keep stealing.”

“Devil woman,” he chuckles. He cracks open one eye, his lip curling in a smirk as he appraises me sleepily. “You were doing no such thing.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I admit. “Even if youdohog the sheets.”

He rolls, his palm covering my bare hip as he hums softly. “That’s more intentional than you might think.”

I nuzzle into him, allowing my eyes to drift shut as I inhale his warm, sleepy scent. It calms me just a little, tension I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding ebbing slightly.

“Trouble sleeping again?” he asks.

I nod into his chest. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up and you won’t be here.”

“Och, love. Don’t be daft. You’ll not get rid of me so easily.”

I take another lungful of his soft scent, letting it out on a slow exhale. “They’ll be moving Brodie today.”

“Aye,” he says. “I know. Over to Glasgow.”

“Is it bad that I feel…sorry for him?”

“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” he hums thoughtfully. “But it’s not your fault, what happened to him. If anything, it’s more mine.”

“You’re not the one who set him on fire,” I mumble.

“Aye, true,” he says. “But he wasn’t hurt seriously, and I reckon I have a lot to do with him being carted away to a psych ward for shouting about monsters to everyone who would listen.” His body shakes a bit with his laugh. “Although…it was a wee bit funny when he started demanding I strip to prove something to the policeman.”

I smack his chest. “He was obviously ill. Like he just…cracked or something.”

“And now he’ll get the help he needs,” Lachlan reasons. “But as far as I’m concerned…he lost my sympathy when he turned that knife on you.”

I feel a white-hot flash of anger pulse inside me, and I huff out a breath. “And the bastard stabbed you.”

“Was just a scratch.”