Page 35 of Starting Over with You (Beer League Belles #2)

CHAPTER

THIRTY-TWO

Dean

Kenni’s legs are across my lap, her ass against my hip, while one of my arms is around her waist. I hold my coffee cup against her thigh.

She holds her cup in her hands as she leans her head on my shoulder.

I rock us while the birds sing, the bees buzz, and the morning air gets thicker as the sun rises over the mountains.

A contented sigh leaves her lips, and my eyes fall shut at how perfect this feels.

This is what I wanted.

My person.

I turn my head, kissing her temple as she cuddles deeper into me.

I ate her pussy against the shower wall before filling her and making her scream my name so loudly, I’m pretty sure her screams echoed off the mountains.

Now she sits in my shirt that reaches her thighs and a pair of my boxers since I wouldn’t let her go back to the room she only slept in for one night.

It isn’t her room—fuck no, our room is where she belongs.

I take a sip of my coffee before leaning back against her temple .

“This is nice,” she whispers, almost as if she’s not sure she should admit it.

“It’s perfect.” I turn to look over at her, and she gives me a small grin.

Her cheeks are rosy, her hair a mess and somewhat wet from where the water from the shower hit her when I was going down on her.

She has beard burn all over her neck, along with little marks from my teeth.

She looks ravished, and I’m fucking obsessed. “God, you’re fucking beautiful.”

Her eyes brighten and her lips tip up higher as she leans in, pressing her nose to mine. “Stop.”

“Never,” I promise, rubbing my nose along hers. “I can’t not tell you that.”

Her lips curve ever so beautifully, and I press mine to hers.

She falls into the kiss, my body lighting on fire when her tongue peeks out to slide along my lips.

I open for her, and the kiss turns desperate and needy.

I’m about to toss my fucking coffee cup and pull her to straddle my lap when her phone rings.

We pull apart, and I glare at her playfully. “I thought I said no phones?”

She gives me a shy smile. “The boys usually call in the morning.” I narrow my gaze, but then she gives me a smacking kiss, and there is no way I could be mad at her.

She pulls her phone from under her thigh, and I watch as her brows pull in.

“Damn it,” she mutters before answering.

“Hello? Hey. No, that’s fine.” I watch as her face morphs from beauty to pure fury.

“What does that even mean? He can do that? Even though he signed? But he’s only doing that to try to prolong this to a year.

Surely we can fight this.” When she starts to tremble, I take her cup and mine then put them on the floor before wrapping my arms around her and nuzzling her neck.

She relaxes slightly but then bites out, “Fine. Okay. Yeah, if I need to come up there, I will.”

Yeah, so will I.

“Thank you. Okay. No, that’s fine. Call anytime. Thank you. Bye.”

When she hangs up, I don’t move. I only hold her as she breathes in and out. Her voice is small, rough, as she says, “Stratford’s lawyer contacted mine and said he doesn’t want the divorce. He’s rescinding his signature.”

I hold her tighter. “Okay. What’s the plan?”

“My lawyer is fighting it. I have proof of his affair, his other children, plus I made copies of the trust that says we had to be together for twenty years. My lawyer is confident, but I may have to go to court.”

“I’ll go with you.” She melts against me, and I nuzzle deeper into her neck. “It’ll be okay.”

I can hear the tears in her voice when she whispers, “I’m not divorced.”

“Doesn’t change a thing,” I say automatically.

Because it doesn’t. She’s mine, and I go to tell her that when the alarm that I have at the entrance to my driveway sounds.

Someone is coming. Kenni recognizes the noise and moves to untangle herself from me.

I sit back, but I don’t let go. “What are you doing?”

“Someone is coming.”

“So?”

She pulls away, her eyes glassy and full of nerves. It’s like I’m watching in real time as walls come up around her. “Dean, let me go. I don’t want anyone seeing us like this.”

Now, her telling me she isn’t divorced didn’t piss me off, but that comment, it enrages me. “The fuck? So, we’re hiding?”

“Dean!” she yelps as she moves away, standing up and knocking over our coffees.

She leans over, giving me a view of her thick ass in my boxers, but I don’t grab her the way I want.

Instead, I watch as she hightails it into the house, and I’m fucking pissed.

I stand just as Sadie shuts the door to her van, her brows in her hairline.

“Damn, was her ass on fire?”

I glare. “Yeah, thanks for ruining a great morning.”

My sister just snorts at that as she comes up the porch and yells out, “I’m not going to be offended my best friend ran when I showed up. ”

“I have to pee,” Kenni hollers back, and I roll my eyes as I drop back down onto the porch swing. Sadie rolls her eyes and comes to sit beside me. She crosses her legs and looks out at the view of the mountains as we rock.

“So.”

“So,” I mumble back, running my hands down my face. “What are you doing here?”

She laughs. “I need a reason?”

“Yes,” I say, glancing over at her and seeing the playful look in her eyes.

“I came to check in since y’all left without saying goodbye.” She leans into me, waggling her brows at me. Her hazel eyes are full of mischief, the way she’d look at me before she’d steal something or make me do something I didn’t want to. “I see you two are mighty cozy.”

“We were till you showed up.”

“What does that mean?”

I run my hand down my face and lower my voice. “She didn’t want you to see us. I think she’s gonna try to hide this.”

“What is ‘this’?”

I give her a look. “You know what it is, Sae. Don’t fuck around.”

She raises her brows, but that playful look is now all over her face. “About time.”

I sigh. “Yeah, but she just found out that fucker she married is trying to pause the divorce.”

“Fucker,” she repeats. “But it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Not at all, but I think she’s gonna use it as an excuse to keep me at a distance.”

“Dean,” she says softly. “Have you told her?”

I can’t look at her. “So, you know?”

She scoffs. “Of course I do,” she says, and then she takes my hand. “I’ve always known, but it became real when the thing with Missy happened.”

She threads our fingers as I groan loudly. “If I didn’t have Skyye, I’d regret everything about that night.” She squeezes our hands, and I whisper, “She’s nervous about what everyone will think, and now with this shit with Stratford, I feel like I’m about to go to war.”

“A war you’ll win.”

“Fucking right, I will,” I say with total confidence because I’m not losing this girl again.

“You need to tell her about that night,” she whispers.

I shake my head. “She’s not ready.”

“She will be if you tell her the truth. I mean, hell, you’ve been waiting a long time.

” I look over at her, and she holds my gaze.

Our eyes are the same, but hers are more greenish than my blue.

“She’s spent the last nineteen years thinking her needs are invalid.

You have to show her that what she wants, she can have. From you.”

My heart is in my throat, but I know she’s right.

I want to tell my sister how in love with Kenni I am, but I don’t want anyone but Kenni to hear those words when I say them for the first time to someone other than my daughter and sister.

Sadie pats my hand. “You’ve kept your feelings buried deep for so long, Dean. Aren’t you tired of it?”

I swallow thickly as I look out over my front yard. Kenni’s BMW is parked beside my truck, and I love the sight.

She’s home. With me.

“I am.”

She pats my hand. “Good.”

Then my sister stands and heads to the door. “Hey, asshole,” she calls, and I chuckle, shaking my head. “I saw you all over my brother.”

Kenni groans loudly. “Ugh, go away, Sadie.”

Sadie laughs at that. “Whatever. Have fun kissing my brother!”

Now I’m laughing when Kenni groans even louder. “Don’t tell Missy. I need to.”

“I won’t, but I want to be there. For moral support.”

“And to be nosy,” Kenni calls back, and Sadie beams.

“That too.” Sadie opens the door as Kenni comes out, wrapping her arms around my sister. I watch as they hug, and I feel like I’m seeing them when they were younger, needing each other’s support. Sadie pulls back, tapping Kenni’s nose and grinning. “Call me.”

“Yeah,” she mutters, and then we both watch Sadie leave as if she didn’t just come through like a hurricane, making this moment seem more real than when it was just the two of us.

I stand, tucking my hands into my jeans and sighing deeply.

I look over to Kenni, and she’s nervously wringing the edge of my tee in her fingers as she breathes in and lets it out in a rush.

“KenniLeigh.” She cuts her gaze to mine, and our eyes lock.

She chews on her lip, looking like she doesn’t know what to say or do.

That’s fine. I know what to say, I know what to do, and I won’t back down.

With as much steel in my voice as I can muster, I say, “I won’t hide this.

I won’t hide us. You are mine, Kenni, and nothing will change that. ”

“Dean, I’m still married.”

“I don’t care.”

“What will everyone think?”

“Nothing worth a damn,” I bite out, holding her gaze. “Do you love him?”

She blanches. “Hell no.”

I knew that already, but it’s still something I needed to hear. “Good. We’re all set, then.”

“What if I’m not ready?”

I hold her gaze. “Are you not?”

“I don’t know,” she whispers. “Dean, I’m scared.”

I nod slowly. “Darlin’, I’m terrified,” I tell her, my own eyes burning. I reach out my hand between us. “But this… This is right.”

“Dean—”

When I move toward her, her words drop off as her eyes widen.

She pulls in a deep breath when I grab the back of her neck with one hand, taking her hip in my other hand, before yanking her to me.

I look down into her bright-blue eyes and see the truth.

“You are mine,” I say again. “And I need you to realize that.” I brush a kiss to her lips, then press my head to hers as she inhales.

“I can go at whatever speed you want, but I need to know you know you are mine.”

Her eyes meet mine, glassy and full of apprehension. “I know.”

I sigh deeply before moving my lips to hers. “Good.”

Before I can kiss her, she goes to her tippy-toes and places her mouth over mine, and I cuddle her into my chest as our kiss deepens.

I know there are a lot of things that could try to get in our way, but I won’t let anything stop what is happening between us.

I may not have had the last nineteen years of her life, but I’ll have the rest of her days.

And she’ll have mine.