Chapter 29
ANTHONY
“Hey,” I greet as I pull my door open.
“Hey.” West’s smile is sweet and a little shy as he steps into my room.
I give him a long, lingering kiss as I close the door, then wrap my arms around him and deepen the kiss just because I can.
He melts against me and matches me kiss for kiss, and we’re both a little breathless when I finally pull away.
“Now that’s what I call a hello,” he says with a goofy little grin.
“What can I say? I like to make an entrance.”
“Does that work since I’m the one who entered?” He shakes his head. “Never mind. You scrambled my brain with that kiss,” he says accusingly.
“Sorry, not sorry.” I take his hand and lead him over to my couch.
“You said there was something you wanted to do tonight?” he mentions as he sits on the far end of the couch.
I drop onto the cushion next to him. “Bridges House is doing their annual Jaws lake party. Have you ever gone?”
He shakes his head. “Thalassophobia, remember?”
“The lake isn’t deep or open water,” I point out. “It’s barely even a lake. It’s more of a man-made pond we call a lake.”
“All of that is true,” he concedes. “But I’m not so sure that floating around on an inner tube in a lake while watching Jaws on a giant screen is the best idea for someone who’s pathologically afraid of the ocean.”
“What if we share a tube and I keep you safe?”
He gives me a weird look. “I know it’s dark on the water, but people will notice if we’re sharing a floaty.”
“Probably,” I agree.
“And they’ll definitely notice if I’m basically in your lap and using you as my emotional support person.”
“I imagine they would.”
“You don’t care?”
“Why would I care?”
He chews on his bottom lip as indecision wars on his face.
“The twins and Rath will be over in about ten minutes,” I tell him. “If you want to do the Jaws watch, we’ll go with them. If you’re not feeling it, they can go and we can stay here.”
“Your friends want me to come with them?” he asks slowly.
“Yup, although I recommend keeping Hazen in your line of sight at all times. He likes to grab feet or other stray body parts that are under the water and time it with the shark attacks on screen.”
“I will literally kick him in the face if he does that,” West says. “And I’m not being a badass when I say that. It’s just my natural reaction when I get grabbed and I’m not expecting it.”
“I’m not gonna lie, that would make all of us laugh our asses off because god knows he deserves it.”
“Are we dating?” he blurts, then slaps his hand over his mouth like he didn’t mean to actually say that out loud.
“Yes.”
He drops his hand, his eyes wide. “We are?”
I nod.
“Are you sure?”
I chuckle. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“But…”
I hold out my arm, and he immediately curls into my side and puts his head on my shoulder.
“I don’t understand,” he says softly. “You said this doesn’t mean anything.”
“I said it doesn’t have to mean anything,” I correct gently. “Not that it didn’t mean anything to me.”
“So this is real?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
I brush a kiss against his hair. “It’s real.”
“I’m so confused.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I was waiting for you to figure it out.”
He lifts his head and shoots me an unimpressed look. “But I’m like, the most oblivious person ever.”
I grin. “I know.”
He rests his head on my shoulder and snuggles into me again. “You’re an asshole.”
“Guilty.”
“So your friends really want me to come tonight, and they’re not just being nice because you’re making them?”
“They want you there,” I assure him. “And you overestimate my pull with them. If they didn’t want you around, they’d let both of us know in very loud and obvious ways. No one makes them do anything they don’t want, and that includes me.”
“This is so crazy,” he mutters. “Damon got in my head about everything last night, and I’ve been twisted in knots since you left my room this morning. I’ve been trying to figure out how to forget that I’m in love with you and go back to just—”
“Stop,” I cut in. “Look at me.”
He slowly lifts his head, and his eyes are round and terrified.
“What did you just say?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
“Tell me.”
“I love you,” he whispers.
“Louder.”
“I love you,” he says in his normal voice.
I let his words wash over me, and a feeling of rightness hits me deep in the chest.
“I love you too,” I tell him.
His eyes widen. “Are you sure?”
This time I don’t laugh. I gently tip his chin up so I can look him in the eyes. “I loved you before I even understood what love was.”
He pulls in a quick breath but doesn’t interrupt.
“I didn’t think romantic love existed,” I tell him truthfully. “I thought love was just friendship with good sex, but it’s so much more than that. It’s the most real thing I’ve ever felt, and you’ve been mine since that first night I snuck into your room.”
He swallows, his throat working enticingly. “I’m yours?”
I nod. “But there’s something you need to know about me.”
“What?”
“Once someone is mine, they’re mine until I decide they aren’t. And that means that all of you belongs only to me. No one else gets to share any part of you, and I will do everything in my power to destroy anyone who dares to get between us. Understood?”
He nods.
“That also means I won’t hesitate to destroy you if you fuck with me,” I warn him. “I’ve never felt like this for anyone before, and I’ll never be able to forgive—or forget—if you betray me. So you’re either all in, or you walk away right now.”
He leans in and brushes a soft kiss against my lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you,” he whispers, giving me another soft kiss.
The door to my room flies open as we’re pulling apart, and the twins walk in.
“Knock knock, fuckers,” Hazen announces as Connor closes the door behind them.
“Wassup, lovebirds?” Connor adds as they lumber over to us.
“Are you coming to Jaws watch with us?” Hazen asks and squeezes himself into the space between West and the arm of the couch.
“We’ve even got a floaty for two you can use.” Connor flops down on my other side and leans over me to talk to West. “What do you say?”
“Um, yeah. Sure.” West smiles shyly at Connor.
“Yes.” Connor does a little fist pump.
“Awesomesauce.” Hazen wiggles in his seat, and West shifts closer to me so Hazen can fit in the small space better.
“Do you have a suit?” I ask.
“Yeah, in my room.”
“We’ll stop so you can change when we head over,” Connor says, completely ignoring me to talk to West.
My doorknob jiggles, like someone is trying to open it, then there’s a loud knock.
“Did you lock Rath out?” I ask Connor as I stand.
“No comment.” He shoots me a quick grin.
Shaking my head at his antics, I go over to the door to let Rath in.
“Connor?” he asks as he steps into my room.
“Yup.”
“I’m so getting him for that.” Rath nods at where the twins and West are talking animatedly about something. “Is he in?”
I nod.
“Has he figured it out yet?”
“He just did.”
Rath smirks. “Took him long enough.”
“He got there on his own, and that’s really all I can ask for.”
He chuckles. “True.”
“Holy shit,” Hazen exclaims. “Seriously?”
West nods.
“Did you know sharks are older than trees?” Connor asks, looking gobsmacked.
“Between fifty and sixty million years older,” West says with a big grin.
“How is that even possible?” Rath asks, looking just as incredulous as the twins.
“What’s another shark fact?” Hazen asks West.
“There’s a species of shark that can live to be between two hundred and fifty and five hundred years old,” West says.
“No fucking way.” Connor shakes his head.
“You’re pulling our chains,” Hazen accuses.
“I’m not,” West says. “The Greenland shark.”
“Tell them about the immortal jellyfish,” I say to West. “That one blew my mind.”
“Immortal jellyfish?” Hazen asks.
West turns back to the twins and launches into an animated description of the jellyfish that restarts its life cycle indefinitely until they get eaten since they can’t die of natural causes.
Their minds are obviously as blown as mine was when West told me about it, and the three of them talk excitedly.
“You do realize we have three golden retrievers now that West is part of the group,” Rath says dryly.
“Sorry, not sorry,” I tell him.
West glances over at me, and the love and happiness shining in his eyes warms something deep inside me. He belongs with us, but more than that, he belongs with me.
I never thought I’d find anyone I’d want to spend more than a few nights with, and now I can’t imagine spending a single day away from him.
West is mine, but I’m also his, and now that I have him, I’m never letting him go. And I know he’ll never let me go either.