33. Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-three
River
She’s mine. She’s really mine.
I hadn’t wanted her to find out about the donations to the charity, I didn’t want it to be what made her love me. But fuck me, if I’m not glad she did. It’s not the donations that she loves, it’s not what it does for her charity; does she love that? Sure. But she loves me. Me.
It’s been two days since she said those words and I’ve barely been able to let her out of my sight.
I spent the whole of Monday night inside her, unable to get enough.
My cock literally stayed buried in her until I got hard again, then I took her all over again, and again, and again.
Let’s just say there’s a lot of cranberry juice in my fridge.
“You’re it for me, you know that, right?” We’re in bed and she’s lying in my arms after another intense round of sex.
“Hmm, you too,” she mumbles sleepily.
“I want you to marry me, this isn’t me asking,” I clarify. “That’ll happen soon, though. You’re mine now, pipsqueak, and I want the whole world to know it.”
“You want me to be Mrs Scott,” she teases, but fuck if that doesn’t sound perfect.
“You’re damn right I do. I can’t wait to call you my wife.”
“I think I like the sound of that.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Good, because you will be. You’ll also move in with me. I need you with me, baby.”
“River, I’ve just moved into my own place, I’m not moving out within weeks of having moved in.”
“Yes, you are. I’m not spending any nights away from you; I’m fed up of constantly changing apartments, and the house won’t be ready for months — we can’t keep doing this.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything, River. You stay at yours, I’ll stay at mine and we’ll stay together a few nights a week.”
“You better be fucking joking, pipsqueak.” I raise my eyebrow at her, less than impressed with her words.
“Well, I’m not. I might love you, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to let you boss me about and it certainly doesn’t mean I’m going to move out of my lovely apartment.”
“Then I’ll move in with you.”
“I don’t remember inviting you, River.”
Fuck, she’s cute when she’s riled.
“You didn’t, but I’ve already told you I won’t spend a night apart from you, and if you won’t move in with me, then I’ll have to move in with you.”
We’ve only got one obstacle to overcome now. Our parents.
Ava
Ava: I need all the good karma. Every single drop of it
Bella: They love you both. I’m sure they’ll be happy for you
Mia: And if they’re not, who gives a fuck? You’ve got a hottie for life. He gave up his apartment for you, he’s not going anywhere
Harper: Soooo I’m just going to go with the more sensible version of, good luck, babe. You’ve got this, both of you
It’s Thursday evening and we’re standing outside the front door of my childhood home, about to step over the threshold to sit down for a family dinner. A dinner where I tell my father I’m dating my stepbrother, that I’m in love with him, and that I plan on spending the rest of my life with him.
I feel sick.
“Hey.” River turns me to face him. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. No matter what happens when we walk through this door, I’m not leaving you. You’re mine, pipsqueak.”
“Yours,” I whisper as I press my face into his hand that’s cupping my cheek.
“Forever,” he vows, then he turns and opens the front door.
Showtime.
“Mom? Richard?” he calls as we step into the house. We’re here under the guise of celebrating River’s award.
“We’re in the kitchen.” I hear Charley call to us.
River takes my hand and pulls me along, I’m not sure my feet would be capable of taking me those few steps on my own. He’s still holding it as we walk into the kitchen and greet both of our parents.
“Darling,” Charley coos as she pulls me into a hug, I squeeze her back with one arm as River is still holding onto my other one. He doesn’t let go, not even when he takes my dad’s hand to shake.
“It’s so good having you both back here,” Charley gushes.
“It is,” my dad agrees. “We need to do more of this.”
River’s gaze finds my own and his hand gives mine a quick squeeze.
“There’s actually something we both wanted to talk to you about tonight, and I think now would be a good time,” River states. He’d said that he wanted to be the one to break the news to them as it’s him that really pursued us.
“Everything okay?” My dad queries.
“More than okay. We just hope you see it that way, too.” He’s definitely got both of their attention now. I see the minute Charley notices our clasped hands; her body stiffens as her eyes widen.
“Well, what’s up?” Dad looks between the two of us.
“I want to start by saying we didn’t plan for this to happen, but I won’t deny I’m glad it has.” He turns his gaze to my own, but his words are for my father. “Richard, I’m in love with your daughter.”
“Oh my goodness,” Charley mutters under her breath.
“Because she’s your sister?” But I can see he’s not really believing what he’s saying.
“No, because she’s the love of my life.” Every time he says those words I get goosebumps.
“I need you to clarify exactly what it is you mean, son.” River winces at the endearment.
“Richard. Ava and I are together. I am in love with your daughter and plan on spending the rest of my life with her.” His words are met with silence, the only noise in the room is the sound of the oven fan faintly whirring.
“How long has this been going on for?”
“For me, five years. For Ava, a matter of weeks.”
“What do you mean five years?” My father demands.
“Richard, the minute I walked through this door all those years ago, I fell for her. She’s like a ray of fucking sunshine lighting up even the darkest of days. I didn’t stand a chance.”
“Dad…” I think it’s time I jump in. “He fought it, he tried to make sure we didn’t end up in this position, but it was inevitable. He’s my person, the one who I’m meant to be with, and the one who makes me happier than anyone else ever could. It’s always been him, Dad.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening right now.” He turns to my stepmom, to River’s mom. “They’ve always hated each other. I don’t understand.”
“I think this is going to take some getting used to,” she says to my dad.
“But you’ve always said that you can’t hate someone you don’t have some kind of feelings for.
It’s too strong of an emotion. There’s always been something there between the two of them, we’ve said it ourselves, we just missed exactly what that something was. ”
“I do— I don’t…” His hand comes up to rub at his forehead. “Christ, I don’t know how I feel about this.”
“You don’t have to feel anything right now,” I urge. “I know this is a lot, and it probably feels like it’s come out of the blue. Just take some time to think about it.”
“You’re okay with this?” he asks Charley as he turns away from River and I.
“I don’t know. It’s not like they’re actually related or anything.
” She turns to face the two of us. “This can’t have been easy for them and telling us must have been hard.
” She’s still talking to my father as she looks at River and I.
“This isn’t something they’ve gone into lightly, Richard; I think this is serious. ”
“It is,” River confirms. “This isn’t me asking, because I’ll do it all the right way, but I’m going to marry her. Ava’s it for me.”
He probably could have given them a little time to adjust before he dropped that bomb.
“Fucking hell,” my dad mutters under his breath. But it’s not aggressive, more resigned.
Maybe, just maybe, this is going to be okay.