I cackled. “That’s what you get!”

  He flipped me off, and Mom tsked.

  “Boys.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “What?” I shrugged. “He started it.”

  My brother muttered something as he gingerly rubbed his foot. Then he asked, “I, uh… Didn’t jack up your prosthetic, did I?” He grimaced. “I forgot about it.”

  I pursed my lips. Then, “Mom! Jon broke my prosthetic! That means I get his gaming console, right?”

  Dad and Anthony both burst out laughing while Jon punched me again.

  Mom just rolled her eyes and sighed. To Anthony, she said, “This is what happens when you have boys. You end up with a house full of smartasses.”

  He was still laughing as he replied, “Just like hanging out with hockey players.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I love it.”

  I settled against him as we all kept bantering.

  And I loved it, too.

  It was late when we made it back to our hotel. We carried some of our gifts up to the room since leaving them in the car was way too risky. I didn’t care how secure the parking garage allegedly was—no way in hell was I leaving a new MacBook out of my sight.

  About two minutes after we walked into the room, Anthony looked around, patting his pockets. “Did I—damn it. I left my phone in the car.” He rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys. “Be right back.”

  Yeah, we’d definitely been living in two different worlds. I didn’t imagine my new smartphone would be more than six inches away from my person any time soon. I was way too paranoid about it being stolen.

  While Anthony went back down to retrieve his phone, I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers over the box containing the sleek laptop.

  The price tag was probably pocket change for him, but I was still blown away that he’d spent it on me. I still couldn’t believe he spent anything on me, never mind coughing up for a MacBook and an iPhone.

  But I wasn’t marveling so much at the money as what these new devices meant. They were amazing, but not in a materialistic sense. They were like tangible representatives of what Anthony had really given me, just like this swanky hotel room and the drive down to Portland in his luxury SUV. It wasn’t that any of it was fancy or expensive—it just all added up to me reconnecting with my family. To the world I’d been terrified I was severed from forever. The electronics meant I could stay connected with the people I loved. It also meant I could look for jobs and follow up on my VA claim. I could use the GI Bill and take online classes.

  These weren’t status symbols or expensive trinkets from a rich boyfriend. They were connection and hope that had been so far gone from my life that I could barely get my head around them now.

  I put the laptop aside and ran a hand through my hair. I was still overwhelmed from the past handful of days. Against all odds, I’d been able to spend precious time with my dad while there was still time left. I’d been able to take some weight off my mom’s shoulders. Those things, I’d known I needed, even if I hadn’t thought they were possible.

  What I hadn’t realized was how distant my relationship with my brother had become. Today’s conversation had been hard as hell, and I was still wrung out and raw from it, but holy shit, I was relieved. Of all the things I’d been missing over the last year or two, I hadn’t known just how badly I’d needed to reconnect with Jon.

  And it was all because of the same man who’d gone out of his way to outfit Lily and me before telling us, “You know what? Just stay here.”

  I looked at my dog, who was watching me intently. “We really lucked out, didn’t we?” I stroked her smooth head. “We hit the damn lottery.”

  She wagged her tail, and I smiled to myself. Yeah. We really had hit the jackpot.

  The keycard clicked in the door, startling me out of my thoughts, and I looked up as Anthony came into the room.

  He smiled, holding his phone up triumphantly. “Found it!”

  “Right where you left it?”

  Rolling his eyes, he nodded. “Yep. I should just tether it to my hand.”

  “There’s always duct tape.”

  “Or I can just not be an idiot about it.” He put his phone, keys, and keycard down beside his wallet. “But that might be asking a bit much.”

  I just chuckled and pushed myself to my feet.

  He glanced past me at the laptop. “Do you, um, want to get that set up?”

  “No.” I crossed the room to him and put my hands on his waist. “It can wait.”

  Interest sparked in his eyes. “Yeah?”

  “Mmhmm.” I lifted my chin and kissed him lightly. “I, um… Thank you. Again. For everything. Bringing me down here to see my family. The…” I nodded toward the laptop.

  “I figured it would be helpful for you.”

  “It will be.” I hesitated. “You know you don’t have to do all this stuff for me, though, right? You don’t have to buy me things.”

  “I know.” He kissed my knuckles, then smiled at me. “But I like seeing you happy. And you said looking for a job is tough without access to a smartphone and a laptop.” He half-shrugged. “So I thought this would make things easier for you.”

  “It will make things easier,” I whispered. “So much easier.” I swallowed. “But it also—it means I can stay in touch with my family more than I have. And bringing me down here, it was…” Christ, why couldn’t I talk? “I don’t know if I’d have seen my dad again without you.” I carded my fingers through his hair. “I probably wouldn’t have ever had Christmas with him again. So… thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He slid his hands over my waist. “I mean it—I really want you to be happy.”

  “I am.” It felt amazing to say that and mean it. “Just helping me get down here to spend Christmas with my parents is amazing. Everything else…” I trailed off, shaking my head. “Just… thank you. For being amazing.”

  He smiled and reeled me in closer, and his kiss was a huge relief. Now I didn’t have to try to form words anymore. There was no way to adequately express how much he’d done for me and how much he meant to me.

  This, though? Holding him close and indulging in a long, decadent kiss? Oh, I could do that.

  And maybe we didn’t need to talk anymore. Maybe there’d been enough talking for one trip.

  Maybe I just needed him right now.

  I tugged at his shirt, and his lips curved against mine.

  “Ooh,” he murmured between kisses. “Is this another Christmas present for me?”

  “Mmm, I think it’s a present for both of us, isn’t it?”

  A low growl emerged from his throat just before he kissed me even harder. He nudged me toward the bed, obviously very much onboard with what I had in mind, and I let him walk me back until I bumped the mattress. We climbed onto the bed, both fully dressed, and he pulled me down on top of him.

  I gasped when his hard-on brushed mine through our clothes. Then I made him gasp when I started kissing along the side of his throat.

  “Fuuuck,” he murmured, sliding his hands up my sides. “God, baby…”

  I couldn’t resist and found his mouth again, and he tangled his fingers in my hair as we kissed. As raw and brittle as I was, I also needed him. I wanted him. And maybe we needed to dive into that and just… not talk anymore.

  “Get undressed,” I breathed. “I want to fuck you.”

  His full-body shiver and the way he bit his lip sent an electric thrill through me. I loved having this effect on him.

  We separated to strip out of our clothes, and all the while—as we got naked and as we sank back into bed—I marveled that this was even real. At the same time… of course it was real. It all felt so inevitable and right, as if the battered road I’d been on had always been leading me straight to him.

  I can’t believe we’re here.

  But… of course we’re here.

  Just like it was way too soon for that gift box to have held a ring, it was way too soon to say I was in love with Anthony. We’d just met a handful of weeks ago. We’d barely started seeing each other.

  But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be absolutely in love with how I felt when I was with him. I loved being wrapped up in someone who cared about me. Who genuinely gave a damn about me. After months on end of hoping for just a shred of basic humanity from anyone, I’d found myself in the arms of someone who truly cared. It wasn’t the money or the fancy things. It was the way his default setting seemed to be that no one he cared about went without, and somehow—by some incredible miracle—I’d become someone he cared about.

  It went beyond affection and kindness, too. Especially in moments like this when we were kissing and touching and tangling up, I felt sexy with him. After being convinced for so long that I was unattractive and undesirable, all it took was a moment or two in Anthony’s arms to chase away those worries. He was the most ripped and sculpted man I’d ever seen—which said a lot, given the number of soldiers I’d been with—and he’d spent the last few years with someone who was also in spectacular condition.

  And yet this man worshipped my body like there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with it.

  His fingers and lips skated over scars and stretchmarks without flinching. His gaze raked over me without stuttering on my prosthetic or all the marks war had left behind. His mouth moved with mine without any hesitation at all.

  In Anthony’s arms, I felt both safe and beautiful—two things I’d never imagined feeling ever again.

  He was perfect for me. Absolutely perfect. I didn’t feel unworthy of him, either. Disbelieving, yes, but in the sense that I’d somehow been gifted an amazing treasure, and I was going to do everything in my power to protect, cherish, and love that treasure with all I had.

  “Tell me what you want,” I whispered as he kissed along my throat. “Anything, baby. Just tell me.”

  “We still have condoms, right?” he murmured against my neck. “We didn’t use them all?”

  “Are you kidding?” I slid my hands up his back. “We brought plenty.”

  His chuckle was a cool breath across my skin. “Then put one on. Now.”

  Sir, yes, sir.

  I made short work of putting on a rubber, and in a matter of seconds, Anthony was on his hands and knees, gorgeous ass waiting for me. With a little bit of fingering, I had him ready to take me. With a little bit more, I had him down on his forearms and begging for my dick.

  “Goddammit, Wyatt,” he growled. “Would you just—ooh, yeah…”

  I grinned as I eased into him. Though I couldn’t see his face, I could still see all his pleasure playing across his body. Muscles tensing and relaxing. Arms shaking. Back arching. God, he was so beautiful from every angle, and when he was like this—offering himself up and trembling with need—I wanted nothing more than to make him feel as good as possible.

  “Do you want it hard?” I asked. “Or slow?”

  He whimpered softly. Then, “Hard.”

  “Yeah?” I licked my lips. “You want me to rail you, don’t you?”

  He gripped the edge of the mattress and rocked back against me. “Please. Yes.”

  I picked up a little speed, but I kept myself back from what I knew he wanted. Oh, he’d be stimulated, and he’d love it, but it wasn’t the deep, hard fuck he craved. No, he was going to have to work for that.

  “Wyatt…”

  I adjusted my grip on his hips and rode him fluidly, loving the sight of him taking my dick and the sound of him needing more.

  “Please,” he moaned. “C’mon…”

  “What’s wrong?” I teased, taking long, easy strokes inside him. “Doesn’t this feel good?”

  “It feels amazing. But I…” He tried to rock back and encourage me to move faster, but I held his hips tighter. “Goddammit…”

  I laughed. “You’re so sexy when you beg. Especially when you’re begging for”—I slammed into him once—“my dick.”

  That had him whimpering with a mix of pleasure and frustration, and he kept trying to egg me on with his body. Keeping him still wasn’t easy—those legs of his were powerful as hell—but I managed, loving the way he alternately begged for more and cursed me out. He was so damn hot when he was this desperate and needy.

  I didn’t keep him begging forever, though.

  “Wyatt…” His fingers curled around handfuls of sheets as he bowed his head. “Please, just—oh, God, yeah.”

  I thrust into him for all I was worth, and I was rewarded with strangled cries as every muscle in his back rippled as he slammed himself back against me. His cries—a mix of pain, pleasure, and relief—were absolute music, and I gave him everything I could.

  “Like that?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  The response was a delirious moan.

  “Can you come like this?” I asked. “Do you want to come?”

  He shifted onto one arm and, from the way his other shoulder moved, he’d started jacking himself. “Y-yeah. I can. Oh, God…”

  Fuck, yeah. “Get yourself off. Make me come with you.”

  Anthony moaned again, and every muscle in his body tensed as he dragged both of us closer to that edge. I fucked him as hard as I could, pleading with my own muscles to hold out just a little bit longer, and I heard myself swearing like only a soldier could as my orgasm closed in.

  Then Anthony’s whole body jerked, and he cried out as he clenched around me. I forced myself deep and roared as I came inside him.

  And just like that, we were still. I slumped over him. He sank down onto the bed. We both panted hard and trembled, letting the last few aftershocks ripple through us before I finally pulled out.

  “Oh my God,” he slurred. “That was so good.”

  “Yeah?” I kissed the back of his shoulder. “You sounded pretty frustrated there for a bit.”

  He rolled his eyes and grumbled something I didn’t catch, and I laughed as we got up to go clean ourselves off. Lily gave us a disapproving look from where she was lying on the floor, then put her head back down.

  “Hey, don’t judge us,” I said to her as I rejoined Anthony on the bed.

  He snorted. “She’s no worse than the cats.”

  I grunted. “Just what we need—a four-legged peanut gallery.”

  “Well, then let’s just be grateful none of them speak English.”

  I laughed as I settled against him. “Okay. Fair.”

  “Mmhmm.” He kissed me lightly. “And for the record? You are an evil, evil tease.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Anthony laughed, cuddling closer to me, and I kissed the top of his head as I held him.

  I felt so damn good, and not just because of the sex. This trip had been hard in a lot of ways, but I’d reconnected with my family. I’d spent time with my dad. And I’d fallen just a little harder for this sweet, sexy man.

  Those three words were again right on the tip of my tongue. It was still too soon to say them, but deep down, I knew. I could feel it.

  I loved this man.

  Chapter 37

  Anthony

  The trip to Portland felt like a dream as I pulled myself together for the first post-Christmas practice. I was used to short trips, some of which such whirlwinds of activity that they felt like hallucinations afterward, but holidays with Wyatt’s family had left a different mark on me. Though we’d only been gone for a few days, I swore it had been weeks since I’d been in my own house. Woken up beside Wyatt in my own bed instead of in the hotel room. Played with and maneuvered around my cats.

  Ridden into practice with my ex-boyfriend.

  I wasn’t looking forward to that last thing, but it wasn’t like I could avoid it. Sitting in a barstool at my kitchen island, I groaned as the garage door opened. Here we go again.

  “You good?” Wyatt watched me over his coffee cup with a sympathetic grimace.

  “I’ll be fine.” I sighed and pulled on my hoodie. Then I smiled and put a hand on his back. “I only have to put up with him for a few hours. When I get home…”

  Wyatt’s grin almost cancelled out my irritation with the day ahead of me. The long, lazy kiss definitely helped.

  The irritated honk-honk from the garage had me sighing and annoyed all over again.

  “Just a few hours.” Wyatt brushed my cheek with his fingertips. “I’ll make you forget all about it when you get back.”

  “Mmm, now I won’t be able to concentrate.”

  “You’ll be fine.” He kissed me again, then nodded toward the garage. “Go. It’ll be over before you know it.”

  I made a playfully whiny sound, which got the desired chuckle out of him. That would carry me through this stupid day.

  I said goodbye to the cats and headed out to the garage. After a skyward plea for strength, I dropped into the passenger seat of the idling X5.

  This was when Simon would normally back out of the garage and we’d hit the road. Instead, he glared across the console at me. “What’s going on with you and Wyatt?”

  I blinked. “Um. Why?”

  He tsked. “Don’t play games. Just admit you’re banging him.”

  “Uh.” I twisted toward him. “How about we start with the part where you tell me why that’s any of your business?”

  Simon’s glare hardened. “If anyone finds out, we’re both in deep shit. And your career is in limbo. You understand that, right?”

  “Are you threatening to tell someone?”

  “Are you admitting there’s something to tell?”

  “I’m not admitting a goddamned thing because who or what I’m doing is none of your fucking business anymore.”

  “Just stop. Okay?” His lips pulled tight across his teeth. “We both know you’re screwing him, so don’t—”

  “You don’t know shit,” I hissed. “And even if you did—seriously, who the hell cares unless you, me, or Wyatt tells someone? We broke up, Simon. We’re done. I can fuck anyone I want to. Including Wyatt.”

  “Uh-huh. And you’re on top of that.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you so hung up on this? And why are you so convinced that I’m—”