“Cuz I Love You” by Lizzo

  “You damn sure don’t get mad when the person you love is hurting. You stay by their side and help however you can to heal that pain.”

  Her words ping around in my mind, this woman … she never gives me what I expect. The women that I knew in the past, they would have lost their shit if I had kept this from them. Something this huge … a second life, a kid … but her? I had expected her to run. To take that beauty that I found with her, my second chance at a real life, and never look back. My turbulent thoughts are doused just as quickly as they came, though, my heart pounding uncontrollably in my chest as I realize what else she said while I had been too focused on the rest to process.

  “What did you say?”

  “Which part?”

  I hold her gaze. I see her lip quirk up at the corner in the most adorable way. How can she make me feel this good after what I’ve been feeling since Sway’s visit?

  I know how.

  Hearing her repeat it though is something I need more at this moment than anything else.

  “You love me?”

  She blushes, and damn if I don’t feel that right in my gut. She brought me back to life, and every second I’m in her presence, I’m reminded that life is worth living. Hell, she makes me want to live. To fight my way through this pain and find a way to face what I need to in order to have that sweet life she promises me with each adoring gaze.

  “Are you going to say it again?” I ask when she doesn’t speak.

  “This moment isn’t about me, honey.” Her soft voice is a balm to my turbulent soul. “Right now, it’s about making sure you’re okay. Only then will I give you an answer.”

  I sigh. Well played. Well played, indeed.

  “I don’t know how to go back, Liv,” I tell her after a breath of silence, having to work real hard not to push her on those three words. “If they don’t forgive me … God, I don’t know if I’ll survive that.”

  She exhales and gets closer, shifting so she can rest her head on my chest and curl in close. There isn’t a part of her that isn’t touching me.

  I love this.

  I need this.

  “You go back, and you give them the gift of you. The pain will be calmed by the joy they feel by the miracle of seeing you in the flesh before them. You aren’t the only one who’s lost something. They all lost you. In their shoes, even in this little time that I’ve had you? Nothing and no reason would stop me from accepting the gift of you back with open arms.”

  “My son?”

  “I hurt for the years you’ve lost, but any man who’s even a sliver of you would fight for a second chance to have you back in their life. He might not have known you personally, but do you think your brother would keep you from still being ‘there’ in memories?”

  My breaths come fast, deep and rough. The emotion I’m fighting winning the battle. I’m not sure I deserve her words or the acceptance and love she’s giving me. I lied to her and still she sits in my arms making me feel better. How the fuck did I get this lucky? And worse, what will I do if she finds out about the rest? About Ray and the real reason I started staying close.

  Worries for another fucking day.

  “You need to heal, too, honey.” She continues when I keep my silence.

  I lean my head back against the couch. She moves with me, not lifting her head and offering her silent support. She has no idea how much her presence has eased the pain a little. She’s got no clue how much she means to me, either. Not yet. I tighten my arms around her and bring my head down to kiss her shoulder. She shifts, and I loosen my arms enough for her to push up and look down at me. Her hands move to brush her fingers through my hair with one hand, the other cupping my jaw the way she loves to. I know she’s right. I need to do this. But not just for the reasons she mentioned. I need to make peace with that part of me in order to give her what she deserves.

  Only everything I held out believing I could ever have is right here.

  The man I’ve kept locked away for far too long and the woman who loves him.

  I move quickly, shifting so I frame her beautiful face in my hands and bring us so close that when I speak my lips dance across hers.

  “If I do this …” I drop my forehead to hers and breathe in her scent. “I can’t do this alone.”

  “Tell me what you need, honey.”

  “You.”

  “That, you’ve got.”

  “It’s not going to be pretty.”

  “Healing never is, my sweet Zeke.”

  Hearing her call me by that name, part of the old me that fits the man I am now. Now that she knows the real me, I don’t think I want to hear anything but that. Even though that doesn’t feel like me anymore, Coop is still a close second. Before I can stop myself, I tell her just that, earning me the blush I’ve come to crave.

  “Do you think you can get away? I don’t want this to touch Riley, Liv. I don’t want her ever to know that kind of pain in her life. She can know them, and I want her to, but not yet.”

  “You tell me when, and I’ll make it happen. Riley loves sleepovers with Ella, and Grace will also be on hand to help.”

  “We have to travel. Are you sure you’ll be okay leaving her?”

  She gives me a small kiss. “You’re just as important to me as you are to her. Your happiness is on the line, honey. She, my little bean, she’s got so much of that inside her she will be excited for our adventure without needing to know more. She likes the people she loves to be happy.”

  That’s the second time she’s given that to me. A clue to where her heart is. She hasn’t said it. Hasn’t answered me from when I asked earlier. She was serious that she wanted to be there for what was hurting me before making it about something else. I still feel it, though.

  “You ready to tell me yet?”

  She winks, sassy thing. “Make me.”

  The fear that fell from my shoulders just moments before when she said she would be by my side through this is replaced with the red-hot need to get this woman—my damn woman—naked and show her without words what she means to me.

  Our mouths meet a moment later, and I swallow the groan that comes from her. The sound goes directly to my cock. Her scent fills my senses and makes me hungrier for her. Hands under her ass, I effortlessly stand from where we were sitting and start moving us toward the wall. When her back softly presses against the cool surface, she gasps, and I lose her mouth. Works out perfectly, though. My hands move from her ass, supporting her body with my own when I trail them around her body and up toward her tits. Her head hits the wall when I graze her nipples through her shirt.

  “No bra?”

  “I was in a hurry,” she confesses with a small shrug and blush to her cheeks.

  “This shirt important to you?”

  Little frown lines form between her eyes as she looks down at the baggy plain black shirt covered in splotches and bleach stains.

  “Uh, no? It’s just …” She stops talking and lets out a gasp when I reach up and rip the cotton right down the center. Her full tits bare for me, making my mouth water as they jiggle and move in sync with her rapid breathing.

  I grab her hands and place them on my shoulders, moving my own back to her ass. With a wink, I press against her and push her up the wall. Understanding what I want, she uses her hold on me to push up … putting those delicious tits right where my mouth wants them.

  “Oh yes,” she mews when my mouth covers one pointed nipple, drawing it deep and sucking her the way I know she likes. Deep pulls and lots of suction. She goes wild, just like she always does, loving my mouth on those sensitive nubs.

  My mouth pulls deep before I lift up just enough to be able to talk against her tit and drive her a little crazy while I do.

  “You ready to say it yet?”

  “Hmm?” she whines, trying to push me back on her tit with one of her hands moving behind my head.

  “You ready to tell me?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responds smartly, looking down at me and smirking.

  That’s fine.

  I’ve waited this long to be on the receiving end of those words again. I don’t mind working for them a little longer. My heart feels like it’s beating wildly at the thought of what I know is coming. I want those words from her more than I can express. It feels like I won’t be able to get a full breath until I have them, but having her and getting them at the same time? That sounds like something worth a little pain to get.

  Turning quickly, I hold her to me as I walk into my bedroom. Before she can blink, I have her in the air, landing softly in the middle of the mattress. She squeals adorably when she flies. When she lands, her shirt flaps fall perfectly to the side, letting me see her tits bounce. She reaches one hand up and pushes her hair out of her face, watching me as I start to strip down. No doubt my expression contains raw hunger. She adjusts, getting cozy, and continues to watch while I undress.

  I jerk when my pants and briefs drop, and the cool air hits my fevered skin. My hard cock springs free and points right toward her. I rip my shirt over my head and stand tall for her to continue her lazy feast of my body.

  “Pants off, Liv,” I demand, loving how her eyes get brighter and a little wild when she’s turned on.

  “Make me,” she retorts.

  Well, fuck me, that mouth is hot when she talks back like that.

  My hands are in the waistband of her pants, hooking her panties at the same time, and they go flying over my shoulder in one swift movement. Her shirt still lays open and forgotten under her body. Not in my way, but something I plan on using. My hands go to her hips, and I flip her before she can react. She lands on her stomach. I grab the shirt and start to slide the material down her arm, but stop shy of freeing her from the ruined top. I move quickly, and when it hits her wrists, I wrap it around her so she can’t get free yet.

  My lips go to her ear, and I softly bite her lobe before licking the spot. “How about now?”

  She wiggles but doesn’t speak.

  Fuck me—she likes this.

  When she lets out a low moan, I smile a little bigger.

  I was wrong.

  She doesn’t just like it … she loves it.

  “Give it to me, Olivia,” I demand.

  “You,” she pants, rubbing her legs together. “You … give it to me.” Her words slam into me, and any plans I had at drawing this out are long gone.

  I rip the shirt from her body and toss it behind me. Hands to her hips, I flip her and move to my knees between her legs. My eyes roam over her body, my cock throbbing painfully to be inside her. When I reach her eyes, I see the same hungry need that she must see in mine.

  “I should make you work for it, but I can’t wait,” I tell her.

  Her feet go to my back, and she pulls me toward her waiting body. “Make love to me, Zeke,” she says, again with that word.

  Those words, in that tone, with my name, though?

  Nope.

  I’m powerless to stop now.

  I enter her, my cock enveloped in her heat, and we both cry out when I hit that magic fucking spot deep inside. Our mouths move, tongues tangling, and I start to move. The feeling of her wet heat around me makes my balls draw tight. It won’t be long. Not when I’m this close to the edge. We move together, her rocking against me as I thrust into her. My mouth takes turns sucking her tits and feasting on her mouth. When she rips her mouth from mine to jerk her head back, I know I’m about to feel her come around me.

  I shift, moving so I’m kneeling again, and pull her up. She screams out, her pussy clamping even tighter around my cock as she rides her last orgasm into another. I feel wetness start to roll down my balls, and I groan when she rocks forward and bites down on my shoulder. With one push inside her, I move us back to the mattress.

  One arm goes to the mattress, elbow going deep, and the other grabs her hips while I start moving rapidly in and out of her. Her eyes hold mine, her sounds of pleasure mingling with my own.

  She reaches up, one hand to my cheek, and continues to come alive under my touch.

  “I love you, Zachariah Cooper.”

  “Oh shit,” I groan, her words like a fire set ablaze inside me. I don’t even get a full thrust in before I’m coming long and hard.

  “Olivia,” I breathe, still feeling my cock jerk with aftershocks.

  “Every part of who you are and who you were. I love you.” She continues, her words breathy from exertion.

  I pull her into me and hold her tight with my mouth at her shoulder. She holds me back just as tight.

  “Every part of who I am and who I was?”

  She hums but doesn’t say anything else. Not that it’s needed. Just having her accept that part of me, the part that lied to her about who I really was, slams into me with so much certainty that I’m in the right place … home.

  “I love you, too, Olivia.”

  We shift, and I pull the comforter over our bodies. We settle in, her body pressed against mine and her leg hooked over my thigh. She runs her fingers through the hair on my chest, content in the silence.

  I can do this. Go back to the life I left. But only if she’s with me. It’s the only way. Having her there to ease the pain in my soul while it’s being torn to bits. I’m starting to think she’s the only one who could ever piece it back together.

  “Can you be ready in a few days? We’ll fly so we aren’t gone long.”

  “I can be ready tomorrow,” she answers instantly.

  “This is going to be hard,” I tell her softly. Something I’m sure she knows without me telling her.

  “It will,” she agrees. “And then it won’t be. It won’t feel like this forever.”

  “I don’t know how to make this hurt any less for my brother or … my son.”

  She lifts her head and looks up at me from where she was resting on my chest. She studies my face and smiles softly.

  “You do that by living, honey.”

  Well, damn.

  “Anyone” by Demi Lovato

  “Do you have everything you need?” I ask Riley for the hundredth time today.

  She laughs and nods her head. Luckily, she loves me enough that she doesn’t mind my constant reassurance that she is okay. I never imagined how hard it would be to leave someone until she came into my life. She might not be my biological child, but she is my blood, and I love her just as if she was my own.

  “I’m just a call away, you know that, right? No matter what you need or what time—I’m just a call away.”

  “Okay, little bean … tell your auntie goodbye so she can get to the plane on time and stop fretting.”

  Riley gives me a big hug and that toothy smile I love so much. I ruffle her curls a little with my fingers before I stand to hug Ella as well.

  She didn’t so much as blink when I asked her if she would keep Riley and handle the shop by herself. I know she has help and isn’t completely alone. Grace will help with Riley, and she has Lewis at the shop. This isn’t the first time she’s had to cover by herself. I know the nerves about the trip have me the most on edge, not actually the ability she has to cover the shop on her own. She could do it all with her eyes closed.

  I’m not really worried about her or even Riley. It’s how he’ll handle the fallout after our trip and the reunion. I’m worried these people will make it harder than it already is for him. I don’t know them, so I can only pray that they’ll handle it okay. Mostly, though, I just worry about him.

  “You’ll let me know if you need me to come home early, right?” I ask Ella.

  “I won’t need you to come back early. I might not know everything that’s going on, but I know it’s something important to you. That’s all I need to know right now, girlfriend. We’ve got it covered, and we’ll have a great time.”

  “One of the guys will walk you two to her school and the shop. Please make sure and use one of the numbers I gave you if you plan on leaving the condo,” Drew adds.

  “Yes, sir,” she smarts, saluting.

  He shakes his head, but I see a hint of a smile on his lips.

  “Come here, beanie,” he says softly to Riley.

  She moves to stand in front of him with the grace of a dancer, twirling on her toes. He drops to his knee, taking her hand in his and earning her giggles.

  “Gonna miss our mornings and bedtime stories, little girl.”

  “Me too, giant. Will you read bedtime stories to Auntie? That will help you not miss me as much.”

  “You bet he will,” Ella jokes under her breath.

  “Not any of the good ones I save for you, though,” he says, ignoring Ella.

  “You’ll come home to me, though? Right?”

  “You can count on that.”

  My eyes get wet, and I know I’m going to cry soon. To witness seeing how much those two love each other is something so beautiful. They have a bond, one that no one else can touch. Something about that bond, giving her something she’s been missing her whole life, I can’t help but hope this never fades for them … or us.

  She smirks, hugging his neck before taking Ella’s hand again. They stand at the curb by her car and wave as we grab our suitcases and start walking into the airport.

  It’s been three days since that night at his place, when he let me in and we made the plans to travel to Georgia—where his family is clueless to what is about to arrive on their doorsteps. He’s so nervous and so unlike the man I’ve come to love.

  It doesn’t take long for us to check our bags and make our way to the gate. We still have some time to spare, so we settle in and wait for them to call our flight. I had grabbed some food and drinks for us as we walked through the airport, but nothing too exciting. Candy and chips from the news stand and two bagels from the café near our gate. It’s enough to keep him distracted at least.