Just a Bit Dirty (Straight Guys #10)(61)

“Okay,” Ian said, nodding. “That simplifies things.”

Miles stared at him before smacking him on the chest. “Seriously? I just told you that I love you, and you say okay?”

A wide grin split Ian’s face, making him look breathtakingly handsome and young. “You’re adorable when you get all indignant,” Ian said, pulling him closer and pressing their foreheads together. “What do you want me to say? That I love you, too?”

Miles shivered, his thoughts clouding from Ian’s proximity. “That would have been nice to hear.”

Ian dragged his lips over Miles’s cheek, his arms around Miles tightening. “You’re my favorite person in the world. Of course I fucking love you. And I’m taking you back with me. This month without you was bullshit.”

“This month? Try four,” Miles said, burying his fingers in Ian’s hair while his heart attempted to escape his chest from the sheer happiness. Ian loved him. “Why didn’t you say anything before, you prat? You could have told me that when I told you I was going home.”

Ian nipped at his jaw. “Well, you didn’t tell me that you loved me, either. If I knew, I wouldn’t have been so afraid of freaking you out.”

“Freaking me out?”

Ian heaved a sigh, nuzzling at his jawline. “I didn’t want to let you go. I wanted to make you stay, by any means necessary. But I thought it’d freak you out. My past girlfriends always hated how controlling I was. I didn’t want you to hate me, too.”

“Well, you are a controlling asshole,” Miles said wryly. “But I knew that already. I don’t mind. I trust you.”

Ian’s arms squeezed him so hard that for a moment Miles couldn’t breathe.

“I fucking adore you,” Ian said, his voice rough. “So much that it scares me. Waking up with you gone—it gave me a new perspective, I guess. I couldn’t even walk, but all I wanted was to come here and get you back.” He bit Miles’s earlobe, making him shiver uncontrollably. “It’s clearly pointless to pretend that I can leave you alone.” He pulled back a little to look Miles in the eye, his expression almost grim. “I’m not exaggerating, Miles. If you choose this, this is it: you’re mine, forever. I’m never letting you go. I know it isn’t very healthy, and I will try to change if you want me to, but I want to be honest with you: I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it, even for you—maybe especially for you. This is who I am.”

There was nothing romantic about Ian’s words. As far as love confessions went, it was kind of terrible.

But it didn’t matter.

Miles could feel how genuine Ian’s feelings were from the reverent, intense way Ian looked at him. Need and longing felt like a physical, tangible thing tying them together.

“I’m not exaggerating, either,” Miles said, cupping Ian’s cheek. “I know you. I’m not going to try to change you. I knew all your flaws when I fell in love with you. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll absolutely tell you if you’re crossing the line, and I can understand where your past girlfriends were coming from, but I’m not them. I love you the way you are. I don’t mind your overbearingness or your controlling attitude.” He grinned. “You can thank Zach for conditioning me to that.”

Ian’s gaze was searching as it roamed over Miles’s face.

He must have found what he was looking for because the next moment, Ian was finally kissing him.

Miles moaned, his trembling lips clinging to Ian’s as tightly as his body did. The world rearranged itself and clicked, the sense of displacement and wrongness that he’d felt all these months finally disappearing. This was right, this was perfect; he was made for this man and no one else. Christ, it felt like he was drinking cool water after a long, long drought.

“You’re mine,” Ian said when they reluctantly parted for air. “Well, and I guess Liam’s too. He’s been asking about his ‘My’ every day. So I’m not leaving England without you.”

Miles could only laugh. “You’re impossible,” he said, looking into Ian’s blue eyes. “When are we leaving?”

Ian smirked. Such an arrogant smirk had no right to be so attractive and endearing.

“Tomorrow?” Ian said.

Miles rolled his eyes. “At least you phrased it as a question,” he said with a laugh, taking Ian’s hand. “No, I can’t just cancel my life here and move to America in half a day! You’re being ridiculous—”

Ian kissed him again.

When he finally let him breathe, Miles blinked at him blearily, tingly and warm down to his toes. “What was that for?”

“I love you,” Ian said, his expression completely serious this time.

Miles’s chest grew tight. He pressed his face against Ian’s neck, breathed in his scent, and said, “I’ll fucking kill you if you ever get behind the wheel again.”

Ian chuckled. “I’ll make sure you’ll have a legal right to access my deathbed if I do.”

Miles scowled. “Don’t you dare joke about it—” He cut himself off when he realized what Ian was implying.

“Don’t joke about it,” he repeated, softer. Surely Ian didn’t mean what he thought he meant.

“I’m not joking,” Ian said, his voice steady. “Maybe not now, but it will happen at some point. I want you to be legally mine so that no one in my family can throw you out of my house as soon as I’m not there.”