Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(32)

Everyone needs a place to call home.

I was going to stop and check it out on my way here, but I decided I wanted Cannon to go with me. I wanted to share my excitement with him and then maybe he would understand more why I needed to do this.

There was a note on the fridge letting me know where he was.

Gone fishing.

C.

I smiled, deciding to take a long hot bath to loosen up the tension in my shoulders. Steaming hot water clipped my chin while Miranda Lambert played through the Bluetooth speaker on the counter. I got lost in the music, thinking about how much fun it’s going to be to fix up my new place.

The door inched open and I released a relieved breath when I realized who it was. A hesitant smile stretched across his sun kissed face.

“Hey,” he squatted down next to me, his eyes assessing me the same way they did this morning. He probably asked me twenty times if I was ok. “How was lunch?” he asked, concern deep in his voice.

“Good,” I shrugged. “Just girl talk. Thanks for lettin’ me borrow your truck,” he nodded, still studying me carefully. “Catch anything?”

He hooked the side of my neck, bringing my mouth to his, kissing me softly. “Not even a bite. Holden caught a shitload though,” he said, nipping at my bottom lip. Hot kisses rained down the length of my neck. Then abruptly, they stopped. “What the f*ck?”

His mouth left my skin in a heated rush. “Shit. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s no big deal.”

“The hell it ain’t.”

“Cannon, I’m fine, relax.”

The pained look on his face when he left the room broke my heart. Water sloshed from the side of the tub as I scrambled to my feet and reached for my towel.

I found him pacing the living room. “Cannon, it’s ok. I’m fine,” I said grabbing his hand.

He gave it a hard squeeze, pulling me closer. “I’m so f*ckin’ sorry, baby. I would never hurt you. You know that right?” Cannon kissed both sides of my neck before he found my eyes once more. “I’m gonna figure this shit out, I promise.” He tucked my head beneath his chin, wrapping his arms tight around me. “I can’t lose you, Cora.”





The first duty of love is to listen.

~Paul Tillich





I caught her gasp with my lips, kissing her hard and deep, trying to convey with my mouth what I felt with every single beat of my heart. There were so many other promises I wanted to make, so many other things I wanted to say, but I’d never been real good with words. And what happened last night hung between us like a thick dark cloud. I had to prove to her that I was good enough. Show her I was strong enough to fight.

For her.

Even if it meant going to war with myself.

“Cannon, there’s something I need to tell you,” she said tentatively, placing her hands on my chest.

I knew what she was about to say. I’d prepared myself for it. “I…I need to go put clothes on first.”

When she tried to pull away, I only held her tighter. “What is it?”

She shook her head, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth. “Today at lunch, Maddie offered to let me rent their old house.” Her tear filled eyes held mine. “Part of me was sad, I don’t wanna leave, Cannon. But the other part of me was really happy. I want this independence. I need it.”

Cora wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. I knew two days ago when Holden asked me to do a walk through to make sure everything was still good to go since it had been sitting vacant for several months.

Truth was, I didn’t want her to leave either. But after last night, I needed her to. I was glad this was happening. I wanted to get us right and the only way to do that was to get myself right first.

I wiped an escaped tear, cradling her face with my hands. “Hey, this doesn’t change anything. You need to do this, for yourself, for your brother. I get it. I need to do some things for myself too. It’s gonna suck, not having you wreck my bed every night, but this is something we have to do. For us.”

Cora gave me a small smile and kissed my wrist. “She gave me the keys today. Will you take me to go see it?”

Warmth invaded my chest. “Yes, of course I will. Now go get dressed. We’ll grab a bite to eat on the way.” She smiled and then lifted on her toes to give me one of her sweet kisses.

*

“I still can’t believe it’s all mine.” Cora sighed in disbelief as we rocked in the swing on the back porch. With her bare feet in my lap, she gazed out at the lake while I gazed at her. She was radiant, f*cking glowing. I couldn’t stop smiling. My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much.

When we arrived, she’d been blown away. Maddie and Holden had purchased all new furniture when they moved into their new house leaving their old stuff behind, which wasn’t really that old. Cora was on the phone with Maddie for a full thirty minutes sobbing. She didn’t have to buy a thing. After she finally let her go, I took her into the kitchen where she discovered the fridge and cabinets were fully stocked with all of her favorite foods. Including a never ending supply of M&M’s.

And bacon.

“Did you do this?” she asked and I shrugged.

“It’s no big deal.” Then I told her about how Holden filled me in on what was going down. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed the shit out of me. “You are so good to me.”