Page 129 of Imperfect Arrangement

I groan, but the sound is swallowed by her pressing a napkin soaked in oat milk to my face.

“I swear, if this makes me smell like one of your favorite fucking latte?—”

“Shut up and hold still.” She dabs at my eyes carefully, and despite the situation, the warmth of her hands against my skin does something to my insides. Even with my face burning and my pride in absolute tatters, she’s touching me. She’s here.

“What the hell are you doing here, Wills?” My voice is softer now, my irritation paling in comparison to the storm of emotions raging inside me.

She hesitates. “I…I don’t know.”

Bullshit.

“Try again.”

She sighs, her finger running over the tattoo on her wrist. I can barely see her, but I know that nervous habit like I know my own heartbeat.

“I just…needed to be here. I didn’t know you were coming here too.”

I huff out a humorless laugh, gripping her wrists, still not trusting myself to open my eyes fully. “Are you serious? Willow. I’ve been coming here for thirty fucking days.”

Her sharp inhale tells me she knows exactly what I’ve been doing, but then she mutters, “Well, I didn’t know until yesterday because I was too busy trying not toneedyou.”

And there it is. That unspoken truth between us, hanging in the cool night air, thick with something electric. I don’t give myself time to think. I drop the napkin, grab her wrist, and tug her down so she’s straddling my lap.

She gasps, hands landing on my shoulders for balance. “Ray?—”

“You ran,” I cut her off, my voice rough. “You ran because you were scared of losing me, but did you ever stop to think about what it did to me? To Quill?”

Her eyes shine under the dim glow of the Ferris wheel lights. “I thought I was protecting us all.”

“You were breaking us apart.” I rest my forehead against hers, my grip tightening on her hips. “But guess what, Firefly? You’re here. You came back. And I’m not letting you go this time. If you need to let go of some fear, you do that while you’re in my house. But no more giving you space. I fucking hate space. I need as little space as possible. If I thought it’d help, I’d move us all to a single-room apartment so there’d be no space possible for anything but being together.”

Her breath hitches. “Ray…”

“Tell me you don’t love me,” I dare her. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me, and I swear I’ll walk away.”

I get her silence followed by a shuddering breath, and then she says, “I can’t.”

A victorious growl rumbles from my chest before I crash my lips against hers.

And just like that, every wish, every sunflower, every prayer to the damn fairies…it all fucking finally worked.

IT’S ABOUT A PERFECT FOREVER

WILLOW

Asharp whistle cuts through the night, shattering the spell Ray has woven between us. I jolt, my breath hitching, but before I can even think about scrambling off him, Ray’s fingers tighten against my hips, keeping me exactly in place. I whip my head toward the source of the interruption, and sure enough, Decent Joe is grinning as he saunters toward us.

“I see you two have found each other,” DJ calls out, hands tucked into his pockets like he wasn’t the conductor of this whole ambush. “Can you imagine my surprise when you both called me within five minutes of each other, asking to go on the Ferris wheel? Are you kids not getting along, or is this some sort of roleplay kink I should be concerned about?”

“Oh my God, DJ!” My hands fly to my face, mortified. Out of everyone in the world, why did it have to be him throwing around words likeroleplay kink? He’s dating my mom, for God’s sake!

Ray doesn’t even flinch. He just growls, not bothering to so much as move his gaze away from me. “DJ, is there any fucking way you can stall the ride for the entire night?”

DJ barks out a laugh. “Not a chance, man. If you’re into keeping your fiancée captive, you should probably invest in some good-quality handcuffs or ankle restraints.”

“DJ!” My voice shoots up several octaves. “What the hell are you watching these days?”

Ray exhales long and slow, like he just heard the most genius idea in the world. “That’s actually not a bad suggestion. Maybe I’ll look into it.”