73. Beach House
Beach House
Sheridan
We step out of Draven’s building and I turn, falling into Fly’s arms, planting my face in his chest.
“You’re safe. No one will ever hurt you, My Royal Highness.”
“Are you ever just going to call me your princess?” I kind of hope he doesn’t.
“Nope. I don’t think so.”
“Good.” I’ll call you MY Butterfly Prince, but only in my head. “Do you know what happened today?”
“You ran from me.”
“I went home.” No lies. “That’s not true. I ran.”
“Thank you for telling me the truth.” He pulls me closer to him. “We need to talk about that, because I can’t chase you all over the world.”
“Oh, you can’t?” I peek up at him with a flirty smirk.
“I can, and I will, but I’d prefer that you come and talk to me instead.”
A man in a parked car starts staring at us. “Fly, did you leave your car with the valet?”
“I just dropped it at the front door.”
“Well, I think they want us to leave.” The second I make eye contact, the man jumps out of the SUV and runs over with a set of keys.
Fly takes them while keeping an arm around me. He leads me to the passenger seat, then helps me up.
Thoughtful little things like that are what I love about Fly. “Now that you know everything about me, are you still in love with me?” I blurt out the scary words.
“Which part do you think I would stop loving you for? Being homeless because you spend your money taking care of your grandmother—”
“Wait, how did you know it was me paying for her and not the government?”
“Because the government doesn’t pay for the best facility around. Most times you can guarantee it’s the worst.”
This man’s attention to detail is going to get me in trouble. “I’d almost gotten the money figured out.”
“Sheri, I don’t care how much you have. I do care about you living in your car, though that’s done. You pick where you want to live, but you’re not living in a car or Jimbo’s shack.”
“WHAT? How do you know about Jimbo?” I know I didn’t mention him…or did I?
“You live in a small town that seems to love you. When you were missing, they rallied around to help me find you. And somehow, I promised Gertie that we would bring our kids back here every winter to see her.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“The thing with Gertie is you do what she tells you, or else. Which means we need to get married and have kids.”
“Well, if we ‘need’ to, I’m game. How many do you want? Because she seemed to think you would like a lot of them.” Fly said that like it’s that simple to decide that we’re getting married and having a bunch of kids.
Or am I the one letting my fear make it more complicated than it needs to be? “She might be right.”
“That woman seems like she’s always right.
” Fly clears his throat. “I want to let this go because your brother said he would take over the care for your grandmother, but we can’t not have this conversation.
What you’ve been through amounts to long-term abuse.
The physical bruises will heal quickly, but what she did to you…
what they did to you, won’t. I’m impressed with the strength you’ve shown to make it through that, but I want you to think about seeing someone to talk about it.
And if something happens where your brother can’t do it, I’ll take care of your grandmother.
You’re not getting hurt by family anymore. Never again.”
“You can’t protect me from every pain.”
“I can sure try to.”
That man. I reach over and place my hand on his. “That’s something a prince would say.”
“About that…it might have been mentioned that you got a tattoo.”
A blush steals up my face. “I did. It was a teenage intrusive thought again.”
“What intrusive thought?”
“That if I couldn’t have you with me forever, at least part of you could remain on me for eternity.”
“Sheri, you’re talking in code.”
Rhys said she wouldn’t tell anyone…But Gertie seems to know everything, anyway. I’m going to die of embarrassment. “I had a crown tattooed on my butterfly.”
“We’re making a detour while you decide where you want to live.”
A detour? “What do you mean I decide?”
“Sheri, I’m just not going to say you need to move up north with me. Beach Haven is your home. So if you want to live here, we’ll find you a place to live while we build your dream house on the beach.”
“My dream house?”
“Yes, because all a house needs in it is you for it to be my dream house.”
***
“So you weren’t kidnapped?” Rhys lifts up the tattoo gun and wipes Fly’s skin.
I’ve been studiously trying not to invade his privacy while also completely absorbed in how Rhys brings images to life with the swipe of that machine. “Nope.”
“That’s quite a story…you know the town is going to make up something way juicier.”
“Without a doubt, but I think we’ll let it die down for a while before we come to visit.”
Fly lifts his head up to look at me. “Visit?”
“I thought about it.” Mainly let everything you have said since we met fully sink in during the ride back here. “Your family is back there in Silent Valley and so many of my friends. It only makes sense that we live there, but we spend some time down here during the coldest part of the winter.”
Fly brings my hand that he’s holding to his lips. “I love that idea.”
“There, done.” Rhys stands up, rotating her shoulders and stretching. “I kept your original tattoo the same, but I think you’ll like how I integrated the crown.”
Fly’s eyes meet mine. “I love you.”
I’m lost in that man. “I love you.” My Butterfly Prince.
Our lips meet for our first forever kiss…or is it our tenth? I’ve lost count.