Page 99 of The Loves We Lost

For better or worse.

I know he isn’t asking me to marry him again right now, but this feels like a promise.

Unable to hold back any longer, I let my climax explode within me. Everything turns a brilliant white as I close my eyes.

Words tumble from my lips. His name. God’s. Expletives.

Miles digs his fingers into my hips and shouts my name on a bark as he comes.

I dig my fingers into his shoulders, sucking in air and yet feeling as if I have everything I’ll ever need. The energy between us subdues as Miles comforts me. He strokes my skin, kisses my cheeks.

“You’re mine, forever,” he says.

For a moment I think about sassing him, but instead I choose the truth. “I am.”

Miles pulls out of me and rolls off me before sweeping me into his arms. “I said I’d give you four weeks to try this out, Vi. It only took ten days.”

I can’t help but grin. “Do you have a pool going on me or something?”

“Clutch and Switch said I wouldn’t convince you. Niro said you’d already decided to stay when you came on day one. Vex bet on day nine. I think King said it would take twenty-six days.”

My jaw drops. “Jesus. They bet on me?”

“I’ll give you one chance to back out of everything you just said. One chance to say it was just mind-blowing sex. And if not, then I’m holding you to it for the rest of our lives.”

I prop myself up on one elbow and think about what he’s just said. It would be so easy to take the out, to give myself more time to be certain. But I think about what Miles has shown me. The good and the bad. The rough and the smooth. I’ve seen him after he’s killed a man who wanted to hurt me and Avery. I’ve felt the terror of gunfire. But I’ve also seen the camaraderie of brotherhood, the value of family, and experienced a senseof safety from the man who has relentlessly proven he will do anything to keep me safe.

“I love you, Miles and don’t want to wait. We’ll talk to Avery when she wakes up and tell her we’re moving here. I’ll keep my house for one year. If we’re still happy then, I’ll sell it and put the majority of the money in a trust for Avery.”

“Fuck. For real, for real?”

I smile. “Yes, love. For real.”

And when he squeezes me so tightly I can barely breathe, I know I’m doing the right thing.

“Crap. My ribs,” he groans.

I push him away from me gently. “Did they hurt when we ... ?”

“When we what, buttercup?” I melt into Miles’s smile.

“You know what?”

“When we made love? Fucked like rabbits? Played hide the sausage? Placed the pickle in the hole?”

“Stop,” I complain as heat fills my cheeks.

“So fucking adorable.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “Yes, the bruising on my ribs aches all the fucking time, but I’m just getting on with shit instead of complaining. Your pussy is better than any over-the-counter pain relief. But, please stay focused. Let’s go get your things today. Then you can settle in here for real. I’ll rally Niro, and we’ll drive down in our trucks or the club van if no one is using it, to bring as much as you need back.”

I let out a whoosh of air. “I’m packing up and moving out today.”

“I prefer to think of it as you moving in with me.”

“Semantics,” I mumble, but I understand what he means. “My parents are going to lose their shit when they get back from their cruise.”

“Then we’ll go talk to them together, buttercup. Their choice whether they want us in their lives. But no matter what, we’ll have each other.”

“Daddy,” Avery cries from down the hall, and this time I laugh.