Chapter 9
Oliver
Ijerked awake, crying out Brinden’s name before I was ever fully conscious. I groped around in the darkness, gasping in relief when he gently pulled me into his embrace.
“Shh, you’re okay. You’re home.”
Home. The thing was, I didn’t remember getting home. I didn’t remember anything but Brin’s warm hands on my chilled skin, and his soothing voice, calming my wild heart.
I rolled onto my side and burrowed my face in the crook of his neck. I was nearly on top of him, smothering his body with my own, but he didn’t seem to mind. His fingers stroked through my hair on a soft, sleepy hum. Home…
I tried to swallow, tried to speak up, but emotion clogged in my throat. I held on tighter, focusing on the sweet but spicy scent of Brinden’s bergamot-influenced deodorant.
A gust of wind made the old building creak and groan, startling us both. This time, a soft bark of laughter escaped me.
“Ollie?”
“Thank you,” I whispered, lifting my head so that I could look into his eyes. His deep, dark eyes that radiated more warmth than a cup of hot cocoa on the coldest of winter days. I smiled and touched his cheek. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.”
His full lips curled into a smile. “I think I’ve got a hunch.”
“I’ll bet you do.” My heart thumped hard in my chest, staring down at him like this, in the quiet as the storm raged on outside. “I wasn’t really sure I’d make it home. When I started out, it was fine…and then everything went to shit. All I could focus on was you, because I knew you’d be worried.”
“I was worried,” Brinden said. “I tried to call, I tried to text. When I got nothing back, I started freaking out, imagining you in a wreck on the side of the road—or worse. I was so scared that I’d never get to tell you—” He gasped, cutting off abruptly.
“Tell me what?” I urged, my eyes pricking with heat.
“That I love you.” He giggled through his own tears, then kissed me.
My chest ached, my stomach flipping upside down. “You love me?”
“I do,” he murmured. “I realized that if anything happened to you, I’d miss you so much. You’re so special to me and I…” His voice took on a hushed tone. “I love you. I want you in my life, forever and ever, and I don’t care how much of a sappy Omega that makes me sound. I love you, Ollie.”
My breath caught, my lungs suddenly void of air as I stared at him. He was so damn gorgeous, so loving and kind, and if these past few months were any sort of indication, I would be happy with Brin in my life for a very long time. Maybe even forever.
I hugged him. “Let’s make a baby.”
“W-What?”
“Yeah,” I said, excited now. “Let’s do it. Go all in, you and me. I want this. I want it with you, so what do you say?”
But he didn’t have to say anything. His soft sob of happiness told me everything I needed to know, and as I crushed him to my chest, we kissed on it.
Guess I’d be getting my happily-ever-after, after all.