“Is it our anniversary, and I forgot?”

  He laughed, his breath caressing my ear. “No. I just wanted to do something for you.”

  I looked up, meeting his gaze. “Are you dying? Is someone dying?”

  He grinned again, shaking his head. “No.” His eyes turned dark, smoldering, and his mouth moved down. His lips found mine, a gentle and tender kiss. “I don’t have to be anything with you.”

  I turned so my front was pressed to his. His hands slid down, grasping my ass. He held me there, holding me in place, still looking down at me. “I don’t have to be funny. I don’t have to be sarcastic. I don’t have to fight. You let me be just me, and I don’t think I fully express how much I am thankful for that.”

  I reached up, cupping his face.

  A tear slipped free from his right eye, and I brushed it away with my thumb. “I’m not sure what brought this on, but I am seriously loving it.” I pulled him down, his forehead to mine, and I closed my eyes. “I am fully aware of all the roles you play with your friends and family at your job.” I linked our left hands together, bringing them to my mouth. “You are their protector, but I’m your protector. You’re their shield, but I’m your shield. I will always unconditionally love you. I always have.”

  I opened my eyes, looked up, and saw more unshed wetness brimming in his eyes.

  I had no clue what was going on, what brought on this trip, but I flattened my other hand against Logan’s chest and felt his heart pounding hard. Whatever it was, it was important to him.

  I lifted on my toes, my arms going around his neck, and as one unit because we’d done this so much, he reached to catch me as I lifted. My legs wound around his waist. He held me there, dropping his head to brush against my cheek, and he whispered, “Taylor?”

  “Hmmm?” I loved how his fingers were moving over my ass, caressing me. I tightened my legs.

  He groaned but added, still a hoarse whisper, “Will you marry me?”

  I answered him as I kissed him that night.

  As he carried me to the bedroom.

  As he placed me down on the bed, taking my clothes off.

  As I did the same, kissing him as I removed each piece of clothing.

  I answered him in the way that we made love that night.

  Tender and sensual caresses.

  It was slow when he slid in me, looking into my eyes, never looking away as he began moving inside of me. I gasped, my head fell back when he touched my mouth, running his hand down my throat, and circling the back of my head, still moving in me.

  I never stopped watching him.

  He continued thrusting, his hands holding my face, his forehead touching mine, and my legs wrapped tightly around his waist, my hips rolling with him.

  He kept going, deeper and deeper.

  A sheen of sweat broke out over both of our bodies.

  We breathed each other in.

  He never stopped looking into me until we both finally crested, our bodies shaking together, coming apart, and then we rested.

  He didn’t slide out of me.

  He waited, still inside of me, still holding my face, his forehead on mine. He ran his thumb over the side of my face, both sides, both dipping into my mouth as he lifted his head, moving until his mouth covered mine.

  I closed my eyes for the first time as he kissed me.

  This was a literal showing of love between us.

  I never unwound my legs from him.

  I moved, my hands wrapping around his as he held me, and after a bit, the kiss grew more demanding, more urgent, more commanding. I felt him hardening inside of me, and even then, he waited. We kept kissing. He ran his hand down my side, over my arm, across my stomach, and circling one of my breasts. He moved his thumb over my nipple and then pulled away, his mouth leaving mine. He arched over me, his mouth finding my nipple instead. He moved his hand down, pressing over my clit. Rubbing. Teasing.

  He kept sucking on my breast, his tongue caressing me.

  I moaned, my head falling back to the pillow as I felt all the pleasure he was giving me.

  Then he pulled out, flipped me over, and all those sensual and slow touches were gone. I felt him fully hard and demanding behind me. He positioned me on my knees, angled down, and ran a hand up my back, going to my ass. He moved in behind me, lining up.

  “I’m going to fuck you hard.”

  Another moan left me. “Yesss.”

  As his thumb went in my ass, he sheathed his cock inside of me.

  I was a writhing mess.

  Yes. Yes. Just yes.

  7

  Still Earlier

  We had an entire vacation in Hawaii.

  Logan showed me the ring the following day. It was a petite twist, 14k rose gold round diamond. I swooned, and I wasn’t a swooner, but this ring—I was swooning so much.

  And blinking back tears because I never thought this would happen.

  Logan slipped it onto my finger as he got back in bed, and I asked him, my voice raspy, “Are you sure?”

  He paused, staring at me, and a whole different look came over him. A look of wonder, tenderness, and gentleness came over him. If he’d had any stress that morning, all of it had melted as he pulled me back into his arms. He pressed his lips to my forehead, pulling me to his chest. “Yes. God, yes. I’m sure. I don’t deserve you. Of that, I’m sure.”

  Well, okay then.

  We didn’t leave the bed, not until our stomachs were growling.

  We ordered salads, giving the tacos a brief break.

  8

  Present

  So there was a whole shindig with James Kade.

  Logan and Mason both needed to fly to Fallen Crest.

  Logan told me what was going on, but I was in this whole zen mood here. I listened, and I was there for him for whatever he needed. Encouragement. Cheering. If he needed me to kick him in the ass, whatever he needed, I gave it, but also, I’m still trying to stay in the Zen mode.

  No drama.

  James Kade was only drama, but Logan and Mason had it under control. They always did what was necessary whenever they needed to get something under control.

  Samantha brought the kids over. We didn’t live far, so it wasn’t hard to get everyone in the car. Maddie helped a ton, and we had an entire toy room for the twins when they got here. I liked having them here because it was my way of trying to do something nice for Samantha.

  I made dinner. Samantha had some wine. I had non-alcoholic wine. She didn’t notice.

  We laughed. She asked me about work. I asked how her training was going because she’d decided to try for one last run for the Olympics.

  During the visit, Heather called, and I left her alone to talk with her best friend.

  I went and played hide-and-go-seek with the twins while getting the 411 from Maddie. There was a boy—ick, hiss—who liked her. I asked if she liked him back, and she thought about it, then shrugged and said, “I don’t know, but if he doesn’t stop messaging me about how nice my hair is, I’m going to punch him.” She paused and added, “I’ll do it after school so I don’t embarrass him in front of his friends.” She finished, giving me a long and dramatic nod while sharing a look as if to say, ‘You feel me, sister?’

  I learned when Maddie was born to always agree with her. She was a female incarnate of Logan and Mason together.

  “I feel you, sister.”

  She harrumphed and sighed before standing up. “Okay. It’s my turn to find the little shits. You stay, take a load off, Aunt Taylor.”

  I still hadn’t told Logan.

  9

  Earlier

  We kayaked.

  We surfed.

  We hiked.

  We went horseback riding.

  We snorkeled.

  We enjoyed poke.

  We had a luau on our second to last night.

  We did everything tourists were supposed to do. We did it. It wasn’t our first time in Hawaii, and it wouldn’t be our last, but there was an extra frenzy about the trip. We needed to do all of this for ourselves, like this was our trip, for us, and we were exploring Hawaii for the first time.

  It was our last night, and we were in bed. Neither of us wanted to leave. Or move.

  Logan lay between my legs, his arms spread out. I was almost cradling him, running my hands through his hair. He nestled his head just under my breasts, and every once in a while, he liked to reach up and touch my breast or my nipple or kiss there.

  “I don’t want to go back.”

  He took in a deep breath, then let it out. His body sank even more into the bed and me. “Me neither.”

  His phone lit up from the bedside stand.

  It’d been lighting up for the last few days, and Logan was not being Logan. He was ignoring every text, email, message, and call. He wasn’t responding to anyone.

  I’d been feeling the urgency from him since he proposed. It was deep inside of him, but I could feel it. It was almost desperation, but I didn’t know what it was for or from. I hadn’t the heart to bring it up, not wanting to interrupt our trip and this sanctuary atmosphere we were in.

  I closed my eyes, my hands pausing then going through his hair, and I knew I had to bring it up now. “Do you need to get that?”

  He was shaking his head even before I finished the question, rolling and burrowing into me even more, his head fully facing down. He raised himself up while his head stayed. His back arched. His hands found my hips as his hips moved up to mine. “No.”

  The phone lit up again.

  I frowned. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.” He lifted his head again, his eyes tormented. “Not today. Not this trip. I’ll deal with it when we go back, but not before.”

  I closed my mouth, a wave of pain rose from feeling his pain.

  He whispered, his forehead resting to mine again, “I want to get married now. You and me. No one else. I want this for us, only us.”

  A tear slipped out because this Logan rarely came out. It was when he knew something was happening, something from his family or his friends or his job, that would pull him away. He always went. He put them ahead of himself and me, but it was how Logan was.

  I knew this going in. I didn’t care. It was a part of him that I fell in love with.

  I didn’t want him any other way. I only wanted him to be Logan, so he needed to do what he needed to do to be himself—if that made any sense.

  Feeling his pain now, I slid my fingers through his hair, palming his head as he lifted up and stared at me. His eyes were haunted on a trip when they shouldn’t be.

  “Okay.”

  The troubled look vanished. “Yeah?” He started to smile.

  I nodded, whispering back, “Yes. You and me.”

  His eyes closed, but his phone lit up. This time it started buzzing on the bedside stand. Someone was calling. It wasn’t just a message or an alert.

  Logan cursed, rolled over, looked at his phone, and turned it off. “Not today. Not this day.”

  He put the phone back, looked at me, searing me with his need.

  I was ready for him as he reached for me.

  10

  Present

  So the shindig with James ended up being more than a shindig. It was a whole cluster fuck. The big D (divorce) word was being thrown around, which escalated to Analise flying to Boston and staying at Samantha’s. Which… wasn’t going well.

  Mason and Logan were flying back and forth from Fallen Crest to here every few days. Mason had practices and games, so he went when he could. He ended up calling Nate to help tag-team with Logan.

  My man called every night, and he sounded more and more exhausted with each phone call. Because of that, I asked around, got my schedule flipped, and got plenty of time off. Score for nurses helping each other out. I called Samantha, letting her know the situation, that I was going to head to Fallen Crest as a surprise. Sam was down to help make that happen. She offered to watch the boys, but I called in other favors with them too. Like Logan, our two pups were heavily loved. We had a whole adopted grandmother two houses down that the dogs visited, and most of the time, it was without our knowledge. We found out about the relationship when she texted me once, asking how the boys were because they hadn’t seen her in a few days. (That was a time when Sam and Mason were watching them for us.) And I had a whole surreal moment because I thought she was talking about human boys, not our boys.

  Nonetheless, we figured it out, and now the pups loved spending time with their very own grandmama. I’d include her husband, but he liked to complain about why he was still buying dog treats three years after their last dog died—just kidding. The grandpa was very much included. Matty liked to climb up into his lap. It was only a problem when he wasn’t sitting.

  I liked to joke that they got that side from their dad, not myself.

  I digress—back to my amazing surprise. I was now on the plane (after another hello to Tracy and all the security guards asking about Logan, asking what Mason’s actual chances were at winning their first playoff game), and I was settled in.

  I needed to tell Logan about the baby.

  I was still waiting, but it never seemed the right time.

  He’d not been home to spend a full evening with me in so long, and I kept holding off, thinking the time would come.

  Now it would.

  I was going to him. We’d have so much time.

  I needed to plan how to tell him.

  I landed, and the surprise was on me.

  Logan was there but not to pick me up.

  He was there to pick up Quincey, who was flying in to surprise Nate.

  11

  Earlier

  Logan

  God, Taylor was fucking beautiful.

  Every morning, every day, every evening, she took my breath away. She was raw. She was genuine. She was never demanding. She was strong. She was supportive. She knew when to fight, when to love, when to avoid, and when to stand.

  She’d been through things that I never wanted to imagine. Ever. But she was here, and she was walking toward me. Barefoot. Nighttime. On a beach in Hawaii. She had flowers in her hair—flowers in her hands. A line of lights marked the path to me, where I was standing. The waves were coming in behind us, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  I loved her. I loved her so fucking much.

  I wasn’t Mason.

  I never had to be the one to make the hard decisions, not early on, not like him. I didn’t like feeling emotions. I used sex to push everything away, and because of that, it crippled me at times. I hadn’t processed our parents’ horrendous divorce, how they treated each other growing up. That’s what I learned. That’s what I saw love was.

  Mason got his woman right away. He hid in her.

  I hid in sex, drinking, and fighting. And none of it was ever enough for me.

  I met Taylor in college, and I still didn’t want to deal with shit.

  She loved me despite it all, and I knew she should’ve walked away from me so long ago. She never did.

  Mason was strong. Samantha was strong. I’m strong, but fuck everyone because Taylor was the strongest. She endured, and she keeps smiling, and she keeps loving. There’d been a few times when she got worried about things, spoke up, stopped me from doing something stupid, but for the most part, she just loved.

  She was coming toward me now, her eyes bright and shining, and she was wearing some sort of dress. She informed me she wanted off-white, but fuck if I knew the reason. She had one, and she tried to explain it in a very articulate way, but I was only fantasizing about taking it off of her. There was a slit up her leg, and as soon as I could, my hand was going there and going up to find its landing strip.

  “Are you ready for this?”

  I couldn’t tear my eyes away, but I responded to the minister. “Never been more ready.”

  Then she was in front of me, and she was blinking back tears. I moved in, catching some of those tears and brushing them away. I smiled. “Hi.”

  She laughed, a few more tears falling free. “Hiya back.”

  The minister cleared his throat. “Are you both ready?”

  Taylor answered this time, “Oh, boy am I.”

  Her cheeks flushed, but I stepped into her and touched my lips to hers.

  I never wanted them to leave.

  She startled, not expecting my kiss, but softened and leaned into me. Her hand slid up my chest, rounding my neck, and I continued to kiss her because I could. This was my woman.

  After a few more seconds, after I knew I had kissed away her embarrassment, I stepped back and motioned to the minister. “We’re ready.”

  He started.

  12

  Present

  Logan

  “Is everything okay with Taylor?”

  Nate asked that question as we were in the backyard of James’ house. He’d technically moved to a different house, saying this gigantic mausoleum was Mason’s and mine, but we both refused to claim it. For a bit, we tried to VRBO it, but that fell through. Too many parties. Too much damage. The neighborhood hadn’t liked that either, so here we were, back here. But hearing Nate’s question, I turned and studied Taylor a bit.

  She and Quincey were laughing, sitting across from us. They’d gone in to mix drinks for everyone. Taylor insisted on handing them out, but they hadn’t returned to sit with us for some reason.

  I studied her a bit, noticing she was holding her back. It was in her posture. She was sitting rigid, a little more guarded than necessary, and I almost wanted to punch Nate because fuck him for noticing when I hadn’t, but that was on me.