Bittersweet Symphony (Bittersweet #4)(40)

“You won Ryder… You never lost…” I whisper into his chest.

“You’re right. I got you.”





Epilogue


Kennedy




Sam had lost, and Ryder had won. I knew it the day I gave myself to Ryder. Nothing about him has been the same since that day. The moment he told his brother about all the abuse he had suffered at the hands of their father was the moment I finally saw the free Ryder, the one capable of being loved, who wasn’t dark and full of hate.

“Thanks for being the person Ryder needed most. The person who pulled him out of the shit in his head. He told you his secrets, and that led to him telling me,” Rex says. He looks at me with so much appreciation, it’s almost a little scary. Then he wraps me in a hug that has me giving Jenna a look that says “get this crazy mofo off of me”.

“You’re welcome,” I say awkwardly while trying to get out of his grip. He’s just as strong as Ryder, and his muscles feel the same. Being held against his body is weird and not in the warm and fuzzy kind of way.

“I didn’t know. I mean I suspected something was wrong when he would have strange bruises covering his body, but I had no clue that there was something more going on. I just assumed he was playing roughly with the other kids.” He releases me, but not before placing a kiss on my forehead which I immediately wipe at like a daughter wanting to remove her mom’s motherly kiss.

Ryder walks into the room, pizza in hand. He places it on the table, looking between me and his brother curiously.

“Trying to steal my girl, bro?” he says jokingly. I wrap my arms around him, hugging him like I haven’t seen him in days.

“I doubt I could ever steal her,” Rex says laughing. Jenna rolls her eyes at Rex as he wraps his arms around her and holds her as if she’s going to break.

“I love you…” I whisper to Ryder.

“I love you too…” he says back.

***

Later that evening while lying in bed next to Ryder, he rolls over to face me. “I want to tell you something…” he trails off. His hand grips my hip, pulling me in between his legs. I can feel his lust…

“Tell me.” I will beg if I have to. His hands trail over every aspect of my body. It always feels like the first time with him. I take a picture of every touch and every kiss and store them in my mind to revisit when he can’t be here and we’re apart.

“Sam got kicked out of classes. I told my father that since everyone already knew, I would tell anyone and everyone about it and ruin his chances at a political run. I told him if he didn’t remove Sam from our lives, I would out him to the world for the real monster he was.”

I smile, really smile. I smile so hard my lips and cheeks start to hurt. I am so happy; there’s nothing that can bring me down from this happiness.

“God, I f*cking love you!” I yell. I want everyone to know…the neighbors…the world…everyone.

“No, I love you. I knew that if anyone could bring me out of this, it would be you. Thank you for being here for me, for holding me together when I knew I wasn’t going to make it. You gave me hope when I had none.”

I hold his face between my hands, bringing our faces together. Our noses touch, and I close my eyes taking in all the feelings.

“No, we gave each other hope. We gave each other meaning. We both saved each other being damned.”

“My life was never damned until the moment I met you.” I watch as his lips pull up into a smile. Yup. He is mine. All mine.



The End…