Page 113 of The Moments You Were Mine

“You really think it’s a good idea for us to share a room at your parents’ house before we…you know…?” Her voice drifted away.

“We’re getting married, Fallon. I already told you my conditions. We do this, real and all in, or we don’t do it at all. Outside on the steps, you gave me an out, but I don’t want it. I haven’t changed my mind. Have you?”

Her gaze was pained when she met mine. Dark and shadowed and tortured. My hand surrounded her neck, thumb settling on her pulse as I leaned in to brush her lips with mine. I couldn’t stop myself from doing it after years of denying myself.

“Tell me that doesn’t set you ablaze,” I said as I pulled back, “that you don’t want to spend the rest of your life sharing a bedwith me, and I’ll call it off.”

The pulse in her throat thudded against my thumb as I searched her face for the truth. She closed her eyes, hiding from me.

But her voice was painfully quiet when she finally spoke. “I’m afraid.”

“The Fallon I know and love has never been a chicken. It’s impossible for you to start now.” As her eyes flashed open, I realized what I’d said—the love I’d carelessly tossed out instead of planning and saying it purposefully. I tried to gloss over it for now, promising myself I’d give her those words in the way she deserved when she was ready. “Don’t make me dare you.”

She snorted out a half laugh. “I always win our dares.”

“Or I always let you think you win our dares.” It wasn’t true, but I liked the irritation it fueled in those warm eyes. It brought back the confident Fallon I’d loved in a completely non-platonic way for far longer than I’d ever realized. “Tonight, Ducky. We’re going to say ‘I do,’ and that’ll put us on a new path. One where you and I decide our futures together. No fate. No curse. You and me.”

She squeezed my wrist before breathing out, “Okay.” She let go and stepped away from me. “I need a minute before I can face your mom again.”

She grabbed her bag and headed into the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that joined my old room and the guest room. For two seconds, I was tempted to follow her, to push a bit harder and make sure she realized I meant what I said and that there was no reason to be scared.

The curse she talked about was non-existent. As soon as we figured out who was responsible for this recent string of attacks and put them behind bars, she’d see it had nothing to do with supernatural forces.

And then, I’d spend the rest of my life making sure she never felt cursed again.

I grabbed Theo’s backpack of toys and strode out of the room. I wanted to talk to Mom before Fallon came out so my mother’s reaction didn’t increase Fallon’s nerves. I dropped Theo’s bag on the couch in the great room and marched into the kitchen on a new mission.

Mom was beside Theo, watching him push a dog-shaped cookie cutter into the dough she’d rolled out. She glanced up at me, that knowing smile returning to her face.

“So, it’s finally happened,” she said matter-of-factly. “Do Rafe and your dad know?”

“Rafe, sort of. Dad, no.”

Theo finished, and Mom helped him transfer the cookies to a baking sheet.

“When can I eat ‘em?” he asked, squatting to look into the oven.

Mom chortled. “They need about ten minutes to cook and a few minutes to cool.”

“Wash your hands one more time, and then get your toys out of the bag I left on the couch,” I told him. “You and Dog can play while you wait.”

After he left the sink, I watched him from the island as he went into the other room and searched his toy bag. I glanced toward the hallway to ensure Fallon wasn’t coming out yet and then turned back to Mom.

“We’re getting married.”

Mom’s brows jerked up, nearly reaching her hairline, and I chuckled.

I ran a hand over the scruff on my jaw that I hadn’t shaved this morning in my hurry to get us out of Rivers and to Las Vegas.

“Tonight,” I added.

Her mouth popped open. “Now, hold on—”

I shook my head. “No. We’ve wasted years already because I was too much of a coward to stand up to Rafe and Dad. She could have died the other day, Mom, and I would never have known what it was like to be hers and for her to be mine. I refuse to wait any longer. I refuse to waste more time just so you and Sadie and Lauren can plan some damned wedding.”

“Don’t cuss at me.”

Mom put up with a lot as a military wife and mother, but cussing was where she’d always drawn the line.