Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107667 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By putting space between us?” she asks, her eyes wild and incredulous. “How’d that work for us the first time? You fucked around, and I got into a relationship with someone who couldn’t even make me the least bit happy. Is that what you want for us?”
“Tenn—” My words are cut short by the look in her eyes. I can’t help but chuckle at her. “Fucking hell, baby. You are scary-hot when you’re pissed.”
Her eyes are devastating. Her blue eye is the color of a hurricane, and her green one is giving me promises of lush lands. With a huff, she says, “I’m unsure if I want to fuck you right now or hit you upside the head for being so dumb.”
I want to laugh at her because I know she means every word, but I’m sure she packs a hell of a punch and I’m already rattled as it is. “You deserve more.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“So, what do I deserve?”
“Everything,” I say softly, our eyes locking.
She pokes me in the chest. “You’re everything.” She pokes again, harder. “Everything I have ever wanted.” Once more, her fingernail bites into my chest. “And everything I have dreamed my future to be.”
“Tennessee.”
“No, D’Artagnan. It’s you. I have never in my life loved anyone the way I love you. You scared me so badly at first, I tried to run. Dart, I’m not fucking running. I’m right here. I’m yours.”
My lips start to quiver, and she leans in. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re not breaking up with me, because we were made for each other.” My hands shake at her hips, holding her to me as her lips dust mine. “You don’t want me to leave, do you?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, our noses colliding as I shake my head.
“Then what the fuck are you even saying?”
“I love you, baby. I love you so much, and I don’t want to trap you.”
“It wouldn’t be a trap if I am with you and the person you love, your baby sister. Dart, my love, I want all of you.”
It’s almost like the unsteadiness starts to even out with each promise from her lips. I hold on to her, needing her for that stable ground her words and body give me. Her trust and love that give me such hope. Where was she when my mom called? “I love you. So fucking much.”
“I know you do,” she whispers against my lips, catching my tears and wiping them away.
“I don’t want to hurt you or ruin your life, Tennessee.”
“Baby, you add to my life,” she urges, her lips moving against mine. “What or who brought you to this way of thinking? I know I didn’t. I want to have Sabine. I want to help raise her—and love her the way you do. I want to be that woman she can look up to. I want these things because she is a part of you.”
“My mom…” I say, squeezing her body with my arms. “She told me you wouldn’t stay once the burden of Sabine became real.”
“Because she’s a toxic bitch,” she says, like the mention of my mom leaves a bad taste in her mouth. “First, Sabine isn’t a burden. She’s a gift. And second, fuck her. I’m not going anywhere because I’m not her and my love isn’t conditional like hers. My love is yours, Dart.”
I know this. I felt this from the first time I touched my lips to hers. Tennessee was different. Is different. She is mine, just as I am hers. As I open my eyes and they collide with hers, I know her words are true. I don’t want to be a broken heart left in her wake, and that’s what I’ll be if I force her to walk away. I won’t ever find joy again because she makes everything so much better just by existing.
“I don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
She strokes her thumb along my bottom lip. “How can you when I’m not going anywhere without you?” When she presses her nose to my cheek, I feel her tears falling along my skin. “Or Sabine,” she adds, solidifying her truth to me. My heart swells in my chest, my stomach dropping, and slowly, I open my eyes to find her in my arms and completely mine.
Her tears spill over her cheeks, and I wipe them away, holding her gaze as our love and devotion to each other envelops us. “I don’t like when you cry.”
“Then don’t be stupid,” she suggests, her eyes playful and fucking beautiful. “Once we have custody of Sabine, don’t talk to your mom unless it has to do with Sabine, okay? We have to protect your peace.”
We.
I grip her hips, unable to let her go.
“Do you understand me? Do you believe me, Dart? I’m not going anywhere. I promise you that.”