Page 57 of Overruled

She takes a deep breath, the determination on her perfect face so like her that I might laugh if this were any other time. She looks at me like she’s about to deliver an opening address to a judge and jury. Her eyes hold that same ferocity that she gives to everything else in her life.

Maybe that’s why what she says nearly knocks me over.

“I’m in love with you.”

I don’t think I have ever actually been in a position where I have nothing to say. Retorts normally come so easily to me, but Dani has managed to render me speechless with only five short words. She takes advantage of my silence, barreling onward like she won’t be able to get it out if she stops.

“I know that I fucked up with you,” she says hoarsely.

“I have spent so long telling myself that people are a foregone conclusion, that anything good I might find will eventually end, so what’s the point of even trying?

Maybe that’s why I took the first chance I got to push you away.

” She shakes her head. “Not that it makes it right.” Her brow wrinkles.

“You were right to stop chasing me. You shouldn’t be chasing me. ”

“Dani—”

“I’m going to chase you this time,” she says resolutely, nodding as if asserting her decision.

“So however long it takes for you to forgive me, I’m going to wait.

Because you’re worth staying for too, Ezra.

And I’m sorry if I made you feel like you weren’t.

I promise if you give me another chance, I’ll—”

She makes a surprised sound when I cross the distance in the blink of an eye, pulling her to me and crushing her mouth to mine.

She’s still for only a moment before she melts into it, her hands wrapping around my biceps and squeezing before she slips her arms around my neck.

I feel every doubt, every worry, all of it—seeping out of me in droves as her mouth moves against mine.

Like everything that comes after this will be easy, because now I know she’ll be here for it.

“I mean it,” she gasps between kisses. “I’ll wait for you—”

“Shut up, Dani.” I press my lips to hers, lingering. “Don’t be stupid.”

She pushes at my chest, only staying close to me because I have my arms wrapped firmly around her waist. “ Stupid? ”

Her indignant expression makes me smile; it probably means I’m a basket case, how elated her looking at me like that makes me.

“Very stupid,” I tease, holding her tight so she can’t squirm away. “If you think I’m letting you out of my sight for another second…”

She stops fighting my grip, her eyes softening. “What?”

“Don’t you know?” I lean in, brushing my lips across hers, smiling. “I’ve loved you for ages, Dani. I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.”

She blinks back at me like she’s trying to process what I’ve said, and the moment she does, her eyes crinkle in pleasure, her smile wide and open, and the effect it has on my heart is something very similar.

She lunges herself at me, zippering her body to mine and shoving her fingers in my hair.

She pulls at the strands hard enough to sting, but I’m just so happy to have her hands on me again that I welcome it.

“Wow,” I hum against her mouth. “You must have really missed me.”

“Barely at all.”

I grin, kissing her jaw. “Didn’t even spare me a thought.”

“Almost forgot your name at one point,” she laughs breathily.

“Really?” I nip at her bottom lip. “Maybe I should make you scream it. So you don’t forget.”

“Does that actually work for you?”

My hand curves along her jaw. “You tell me.”

“I can’t stand you,” she says with no bite.

“Oh, no,” I chuckle. “You love me. No take backs. I’m going to be driving you crazy for the rest of your life.”

“Promise?”

Her humor dims just for a second, and I can see it there in her eyes, that lingering uncertainty. I kiss the tip of her nose. “Baby, you’re never getting rid of me.”

God, I love when she smiles. I silently promise to make sure she does it for the rest of our lives.

I’m pulling her closer with every intention of taking her to my room and showing her exactly how much I missed her, but my well-intentioned plans come to a screeching halt when keys rattle at my front door, my mother clamoring inside, her arms laden with shopping bags.

“Hey, honey! I got you a new shower curtain for the guest room. That gray one is just so— Oh.” My mother’s face lights up, a mischievous glint in her eye, as she takes in Dani untangling herself from my arms. “Well, hello.”

“Mrs. Hart,” Dani croaks, pushing me away. “Hi. Sorry. We were just—”

“Oh, don’t apologize, dear,” Mom says. “I remember what kissing is. Dani, are you staying for dinner?” Mom sets her bags down, stepping over and looping her arm through Dani’s. “I was just saying to Ezra this morning that I was in the mood for chicken Alfredo. Ezra makes the best homemade sauce.”

“I…” Dani looks at me expectantly, and I shrug, shooting her a grin that she hesitantly returns before turning it toward my mom. “I’d love to stay for dinner.”

“Good.” Mom pats her hand. “Now you come and tell me all about yourself.”

“Oh…sure.”

Seeing them together causes a swelling sensation in my chest, a peace settling over me that I hadn’t even realized I’d craved until this very second.

Like everything I’ll ever need is right here in this room.

Knowing that Dani is the reason that my mother will never suffer again only makes it all the more sweet.

Mom steps away to start hunting for something to drink, and I move closer to press a kiss to Dani’s cheek, whispering, “To be continued.”

“If you’re lucky,” she mumbles back.

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. She’d just roll her eyes if I told her that I think I already am.

···

“Shut up,” she hisses, covering my mouth. “Your mother is right down the hall.”

I smile against her neck, sucking at her pulse point after. “You made the noise, Sour Patch.”

“Because you— fuck ,” she gasps.

I tilt my hips again, letting my length tease through her slippery heat. “Because I did that?”

“God, you’re infuriating,” she groans as quietly as she can manage.

I capture her mouth, letting my tongue slip inside just as I start to fill her.

“You love me.”

Her arms wind around my neck. “Stop reminding me.”

“Fuck.” I bury my face in her throat, grinding deeper. “I missed you.”

“Miss me faster.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you top from the bottom?”

“Ezra,” she huffs.

I kiss under her jaw, snapping my hips against her. “Like that?”

“ Yes. Just like that.”

“I think you missed me too,” I rasp.

“Yeah?”

“I know you missed at least one part of me,” I croon.

Her nails dig into my shoulders as I start to move faster, my eyes shutting as her perfect, wet cunt grips me tight.

“I can’t believe I love you,” she says with a laugh that ends with a deep sigh. “You’re an idiot.”

“But I’m your idiot.”

I pull my head back to look at her, and her flushed face is beautiful in the warm glow of my bedside lamp, her smile filling me up.

She lifts her head to meet my mouth, pulling me down to her and slipping her tongue between my lips.

I groan into her kiss as I thrust deeper, her legs wrapping around my waist.

I lose myself in her body, reveling in the fact that I can touch her like this, that I’ll be able to tomorrow and every day after that.

It’s so different, having her kiss me sweetly while I fill her again and again, so much different from the days where she wouldn’t even look at me when we were like this.

I think I knew then that it was inevitable that I would come to need her this desperately, that there would never be anyone else who could compare after having her.

And now I’m completely sure.

“Harder,” she says on an inhale, tilting her head back.

I brace my elbows beside her on the bed, leaning on my forearms as I drive my hips until I’m pounding between her legs, watching every facet of her expression as she loses herself in it.

Her eyes drift open to meet mine, and I hold myself up so that I can trail one hand down between us, dipping between her legs to roll her clit under the pads of my fingers.

I’m too close, too greedy for her—and I want her with me when I fall over the edge.

“Can you come for me, Dani?”

“Just like that,” she breathes.

I work the slick bundle a little faster, never slowing the deep slide of my cock as she envelops me.

“Want your eyes when you come,” I murmur. “Want you with me.”

She nods dazedly, biting her lip. “Okay.”

“You love me?”

Another nod, her eyes heavy lidded. “I love you.”

“Forever?”

Her lips curl. “We’ll see.”

“Now who’s the asshole,” I choke out, a stuttered groan following it as pressure starts to swell, so close I can practically feel it in my teeth. “ Fuck , Dani. You feel good.”

“Don’t stop.”

“Never.”

I work my wrist faster, I sling my hips harder —moving inside her like nothing else matters, because at this moment, I’m not sure that it does.

Right now, nothing could be more important than the way she looks beneath me, the way she feels around me, the way she’s woven herself into every part of my head and my heart.

Right now…she’s everything. I think she always will be.

She lets out a quiet sound when she comes, and I feel every tremor of it pass through her, her tight heat cinching around me, practically forcing me to follow.

Every pulse inside only prolongs the pleasure, and by the time we’re both still, I feel boneless, hardly able to keep from collapsing on top of her.

I give in to the urge eventually, and Dani lets out a soft oomph .

“You’re smothering me,” she says breathlessly.

“Mm. It’s way too soon in our relationship for you to start making those sorts of accusations.”

“Are you always going to be this impossible?”

I roll, stretching out beside her and flashing her a grin as I pull her into my side. “Absolutely.”

“That checks out.”

“You love it.”

I feel her lips curving against my skin. “I guess I do.”

“Fuck, I love you too. I’m going to say that a million times before I’m done. You realize that, right?”

“It’s better than ‘baby.’?”

“You love it when I call you that. Admit it, Sour Patch.”

“God,” she groans. “That one’s even worse.”

I kiss her hair, feeling lighter and happier than I’ve ever been. Like every moment in my life has been leading to this exact one.

“I’m going to have to confront Alexander,” I tell her after a stretch of contented silence.

She nods against my side. “I know.”

“Will you come with me?”

She tilts her face up, wriggling higher until she can brush her lips against my cheek. “Of course I will.”

And strangely, knowing that means I don’t feel any uncertainty about whatever the outcome may be.

I know that as long as she’s with me, everything will work out.

I bring my fingers to her chin, tilting it up higher so I can claim her mouth.

It’s soft and sweet and unlike anything about the wild ride we took to get here, but I wouldn’t change a single minute of it.

I wouldn’t trade this prickly, obstinate woman whose hard-earned smiles light up my life for anything.

And the best part is…I’ll never have to.