Epilogue
FORD
I didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that our first little league play-off of the fall season was against my wife’s newly sponsored team.
No matter where Quinn and I stood—whether it was a good day or a challenging one—one thing that never changed between us was that competitive streak we’d had since we were kids.
Us being officially—not fake…and definitely not temporarily—married didn’t change that.
“When we beat you today, are you going to take it like a big girl, or are you going to give me the silent treatment like you always do?” I asked, brushing my lips up the column of Quinn’s neck, barely restraining myself from pinning her against this wall and fucking her, to hell with the onlookers.
We were technically out of sight. And, really, how many people came to buy concessions during a little league game? We could probably get away with—
“When we beat you , are you going to take it like a big girl or pout like you usually do?” she shot back, eyes narrowed.
“Kitten. While I’ve definitely got the big part down, I think we both know there’s nothing girlish about me.” I gripped her hip, digging my fingers into her soft flesh as I pressed my dick against her.
I’d known I wouldn’t stand a chance of making it through this game without getting a hit of my wife first. Not when I hadn’t seen her since she’d left for work that morning, leaving me blissed out in our bed.
So, as soon as she had strutted from her car across the field toward her team’s dugout, that fucking sundress swinging in the breeze as she went, I’d told Aiden I’d be back.
Then I’d intercepted my wife, tugged her behind the field house and kissed her within an inch of her life.
I could admit it hadn’t been my smartest move since I was now sporting a huge fucking erection, and we were surrounded by—if out of sight from—a bunch of kids.
But I didn’t make too many smart moves where Quinn was concerned.
She reduced me to a puddle of nonsense and need on a daily basis, and today was no different.
“Quit rubbing your dick all over me,” she murmured against my mouth, but her words lacked heat, and she held me to her with two fistfuls of my shirt, like she was just as needy for me as I was for her.
And I was here for it. Here for those public declarations…
and the private ones, too. There was no more pretending between us.
No more concealing our true feelings or hiding behind a history we couldn’t change but one we’d both grown grateful for.
How we loved each other was on display every day, in private or not, arguing or not, competing or not…
without fail. Loving each other through the ups and downs…
Staying and working through them was new to us both, but we were learning. Together.
While it was pretty fucking obvious how I felt about Quinn, we’d come clean to my family and told them there was no longer anything fake about our marriage.
That we were in it for the long haul. My brothers all nodded their congrats, but that little dictator Addison had only grinned smugly, as if she’d had a hand in Quinn’s and my fake-turned-real love all along.
I stared down at my wife, a heavy gratefulness washing over me not for the first time. This gorgeous, smart-as-hell, hot-as-fuck woman was mine . For the rest of our lives.
“If you don’t want me to rub my dick on you, wife, then quit wearing these goddamn dresses.
” I pinched the hem of it between my fingers, desperate to tug it right off her.
To flip up the skirt and get an eyeful of those panties I’d seen her slipping into this morning.
To sink inside all that perfection between her thick thighs and fuck her until neither of us could breathe.
“All I have to do is see one laid out on the bed, and I’m fucking hard. ”
She hummed low in her throat, leaning into me for the briefest moment, before straightening and pushing away. Narrowing her eyes, she pointed a finger at me. “I know what you’re doing, husband. And it’s not going to work.”
First of all, her calling me husband was doing fuck all for the beast in my pants, desperate to be inside her.
And second, I was certain she didn’t have any idea, because what I was doing was trying to stop myself from saying fuck it and dragging her into the bathroom to have my way with her, play-off game be damned.
Aiden could figure that shit out on his own.
Brady was in the dugout to help. Those two bossy assholes would be fine.
“What am I doing?” I asked, voice rough.
“You’re trying to distract me so you can win.” She braced her hand on my chest as she stood on her tiptoes, her lips brushing mine with every word, her eyes sparking with challenge. “But it’s not gonna happen.”
Then she nipped my bottom lip and patted my chest twice before taking a step back, out of my reach.
I had to force myself not to grab her around the waist, tug her back into me, and kiss the hell out of her, just for a little while longer. Like…maybe another hour or two. We wouldn’t be missed during that time, would we?
I had no idea when I’d stop craving my wife every goddamn second of every goddamn day, but if history was anything to go by, the answer to that was never.
I’d never get sick of calling Quinn mine.
I huffed out a pained laugh, hanging my head as I willed my dick to calm the fuck down. “The last thing on my mind is this game, kitten. All I’m thinking about is getting you naked as soon as fucking possible. When will that be, by the way?”
She bit her lip, her eyes heating for a moment as she stared at me, and I thought I had her.
Thought she was going to tip her head toward the bathroom and drag me inside to let me have my way with her.
But instead, she spun around and headed toward the field.
Over her shoulder, she said, “How about the winner gets to decide our evening activities?”
“By evening activities, do you mean how I’m going to fuck you?
” When her only answer was a raised brow at me, I laughed lowly and swiped a thumb across my bottom lip, my eyes glued to the sway of those luscious hips as she walked away from me.
“In that case, you better be ready to lose, wife, because I already know exactly what I’m going to do when I win. ”
And it involved her naked and bound to the bed while I tormented her with the new toy that had arrived in the mail today.
So, yeah, there was no fucking way our team was losing.
Even if this was the first play-off for the clinic’s team.
Even if I was so fucking proud of her, I couldn’t bear it.
Going easy on her wasn’t what she needed from me.
Wasn’t what our relationship had ever been about.
We’d pushed each other from the beginning—forced each other to strive for more—and that wasn’t going to stop now.
Even as I smiled, watching my wife greet her team, the kids sporting jerseys that proclaimed Sponsored by Dr. Quinn McKenzie .
Because yeah…that shit was permanent.
Where she’d once balked at taking my last name, it had ultimately been an easy decision for her once we’d decided this was forever. She’d wanted a clean break after cutting her parents out of her life, and keeping her last name would never allow her to do that.
Quinn had looked into sponsoring a team as soon as she’d purchased the clinic—a purchase that had been far easier than either of us had anticipated.
It turned out not even Don’s wife liked the jackass, and the poor woman had been married to him for forty years.
She’d reached out to Quinn barely a week after his death to discuss my wife’s offer that, apparently, had been tossed in his trash can.
No one had been more shocked than Quinn when Mrs. Dinsmore had not only agreed to sell her the clinic, but to do so at a much lower price than what Quinn had offered.
But the biggest surprise had come when she’d told my wife she’d sold it to her specifically because Don had fought so hard against it.
Yep. My wife had been rewarded for putting up with that asshole every day for months by getting his practice in the end, all because he hadn’t wanted her to have it in the first place. And if that wasn’t karma, I didn’t know what was.
I strolled down to the dugout, grin on my lips as I figured out how we were going to win this game.
Normally, Aiden was on that—focused to a fault when it came to…
well, everything. But today, he was distracted.
And not quite as surly as he stared out at the kids on the field practicing their throws.
He also hadn’t yelled at me once, even for sneaking away to fuck off with my wife. He didn’t—
My mouth dropped open as I eyed him from head to toe. He stood there in his usual uniform of gray dress pants and a white button-up, the sleeves rolled up, his eyes focused on the kids practicing on the field. But there was something different about him. He had an air to him that only came from—
“Holy shit,” I said, splitting my gaze between him and Brady, who sat on the bench in the dugout. “You got laid.”
Aiden snapped his head in my direction, the briefest flicker of shock registering across his face before he wiped it clear of any expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I barked out a laugh and shook my head. “Sure you don’t. There’s no use trying to deny it. I can sniff that shit out like a bloodhound. Can’t I?” I asked Brady, gesturing with my chin toward our lying brother who most definitely got some action last night. And it was about fucking time.
“You do kind of have something going on there,” Brady said, circling his own face as he stared at Aiden. “Is this because of the woman you told me about?”
His gaze shot to Brady. “Dude. What the fuck .”
“Oh, this is too good. What woman?” I asked, rubbing my hands together. “Tell me more. Tell me everything .”
But instead of saying anything, Aiden just split a glare between Brady and me, his arms crossed over his chest as if that would protect him from my interrogation.
Not fucking likely.
“Was it the I can call you Daddy, too single mom? Is that why you don’t want to talk about it right now?”
Aiden’s jaw ticked, and he didn’t even glance over at me as he said, “No, it wasn’t with that woman.
I know better than to get involved with someone who would make my life difficult.
And I don’t want to talk about it right now because A) we’re surrounded by a bunch of little kids and their parents—”
“One of whom is desperate to call you Daddy…”
“And B) it’s none of your fucking business.”
“Oh no. You’re the one who showed up at this game with your I just got laid face on, thus making it my business.” I shrugged. “I could also make it Addison’s business if you wanted… She’ll be here any minute.”
“You’re such a dick.”
My smile only grew, because I could see his facade cracking, and I knew I had him.
Finally, after way too damn long, he let out an annoyed sigh and scrubbed a hand down his face. “It was no big deal, all right? I needed to blow off some steam, so I went to One Night Stan’s, had a one-night stand, and that’s it. She didn’t leave her number, and I don’t even know her name—”
Brady cut in, “Just that she’s a redheaded smokeshow with a penchant for—”
“Would you shut the fuck up?” Aiden hissed at him. Then he cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders back. “Anyway, she’s not from around here, so it’s done.”
“What if she was?” I asked.
“What if she was, what?”
I raised a brow at him. “From around here?”
Something passed over his face, but it was gone too quickly for me to name. “Doesn’t matter, because she’s not. And we’re done talking about this.”
“If you actually want to be done talking about it, you better do something about your face, because Addison’s on her way over here…”
Aiden glanced behind me to where our baby sister walked toward us through the crowd, slipping past people with someone on her heels. Then, his entire body went rigid.
I glanced back to Addison, my brows shooting up when I registered the woman next to her. She looked to be about Addison’s age, with a bright smile and a laugh loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. And a waterfall of red hair that shone in the sun.
Holy shit.
“Hey…” I said, brows up as I glanced between my sister and this newcomer who might or might not be—but probably definitely was—the “smokeshow” Aiden had seen last night.
“Surprise!” Addison said, holding out her hands toward the other woman as if she were presenting her on a game show.
“This is Avery, my college bestie! Thanks to my impressive persuasive skills, I’ve managed to sweet-talk her into working at the resort for three months so you can stop being such a grump all the time, Aiden. You're welcome .”
Holy. Shit.
“Avery, meet Aiden,” Addison continued, completely oblivious to the way the two of them were frozen, staring at each other in shock. “One of my brothers and your new boss. Isn’t this gonna be great ?”
________
Thank you for reading Fearless Heart!