The Guy on the Left (The Underdogs, #2)(105)

I love him. I believe in him. I believe in us, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make him see what I do, a future, together.

Love requires a little bit of idiocy and a hell of a lot of bravery, and I’ll be the fool for him.

“No, Troy, I’m not afraid anymore,” I shake my head pushing my jeans over my hips just as he charges me, and a sharp knock sounds on the door behind me.

“UPS!”

“Jesus Christ!” I shriek as I turn to see the man look up from his screen and into the living room with a clear view of my thong clad ass and bare love tassels. Troy’s already in front of me, blocking the man’s view before slamming the door in his face.

Troy hangs his head, shaking it with a light chuckle. “What are the fucking odds?”

On the other side of the door, we hear, “Troy, uh, hey man, I’m going to need a signature before I can leave this here.”

Troy sighs, glancing back at me, cowering on the couch, blanket covering me to my neck before he opens the door and signs for the package. “How you doing, George?”

“Not nearly as good as you.”

“Do me a favor, and don’t mention this.”

George replies breezily. “Never saw a thing.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Better not keep her waiting,” George says with a chuckle as I melt between the couch cushions.

Troy shuts the door and turns to me with a million-dollar smile as I shrink under my throw. “That did not go as planned.”

“And when have plans ever been in our favor?”

“We just can’t win, huh?”

He kneels down in front of me. “You were saying?”

I cover my face with my hands, too embarrassed to look up. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Yes, we are,” he says softly before scooping me in his arms. “Mom says we’ll grow out of it by the time we’re forty.”

“Good to know.”

I look up at him, his scent hitting me as he slowly carries me toward my bedroom. “I love you. It’s that simple and that complicated. I want to fight with you, and make up with you, and go to sleep with you, and wake up with you, and raise kids with you. And only with you. I miss you so much.” I press my lips against the hollow of his throat. “You think we’ll ever get our shit together?”

“Probably not.”

“We’re hopeless.”

“Perfect fucking mess,” he says softly, setting me in front of my bed, brushing my hair back from my shoulders.

“Forgive me, Troy. Please.”

“I already have.”

I slide my panties down my legs and stand completely nude in the bright light of day, my heart beating wildly as I stare at the man who spent months capturing my son’s heart and wholly taking mine in the process.

“You’ve bared yourself to me in a hundred ways since you came into my life. I’ve fallen for every side of you, good and bad, I want it all. I don’t deserve you. I know I don’t. But I do respect you, Troy, more than you’ll ever know. I’ve never been more certain about any man. I trust you completely, and I’ll earn your trust back. I’ll earn you. I’m begging you not to give up. If you still want—”

“One question.”

“Anything.” I rasp out eagerly.

“What took you so long?” he says gruffly before he crushes our mouths together.

Our tongues duel hungrily as he grips my ass in his hands and squeezes so hard, I gasp into his mouth. He closes our kiss and pulls away, his arms pinning me to him. “I’ve missed you too, so fucking much,” he whispers before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, “you’re all I see, all I can feel. I tried so hard to get over you, but I couldn’t, I never will. I’ll fight with you, I’ll make up with you, go to sleep and wake up with you, Dr. Seuss,” he chuckles, as my cheeks heat, my tears spilling over, “I’ll give you five babies,” he grunts, as I pull at his shorts before gripping his thick dick in my hands.

“Two,” I protest.

“Three.”

“Negotiations are now open,” he beams down at me. “You were hard-earned and well-worth it, I wanted to earn this, to earn you.” He slides his hands up my sides, caressing me, covering me with his muscular touch. “But I needed you in the same place. We had to be in the same place.”

I press my forehead to his and nod. “I love you.”

“God, I must have dreamed this a thousand times,” he murmurs, taking bites of my neck, my chest, soothing the sting with his lips before bringing his hungry mouth back to mine.

I pump him in my hand as he kisses me with a surety we both share.

Some things have to be learned over time, but the only thing I know for sure is, this man and I belong together. All I can do is be thankful at this point for every trial that led us back to each other. Though our timing was horribly off, fate made us so in the form of a little boy, the spitting image of his father, and our guiding light.

The minute my back touches the mattress, he uses the movement to thrust against me, our collective gasps filling the room. Eyes locked, he rears back, before lining himself up and slowly pushing inside me. I grip his shoulders, widening my legs as he fills me slowly, inch by inch.

“Fucking worth it,” he murmurs. “Every fight, every struggle, the wait, the pain, the ache, loving you, needing you, wanting you, missing you—all of it—worth it to get us to this point, right here.”