“You’re welcome, Mrs. Candless.”
Joann nodded and returned to her husband’s side. My parents were waiting to give me congratulatory hugs once I finished the conversation. They offered to take us to lunch, but I needed to get back to the university to give my afternoon lecture. I promised to have a big celebration as soon as we moved into our new home.
“Feel better?” Jag asked once we were alone in his car.
“Much,” I admitted. “I knew you were right all along, but I was afraid to get my hopes up too high. I kept picturing our life together with the kids, and I wanted to believe so badly that it would happen. Have you ever wanted something so bad but were afraid you’d never have it?”
“You.” Jag’s voice was deep with sincere emotion. “You were the one I was afraid would always remain out of my reach. I still feel that way sometimes.” His confession shocked me, and it must have shown on my face. “It took me a long time to believe you really wanted me. I was afraid to let you get too close because it would only be a matter of time before you got tired of me. I took you seriously when you said you would never want forever with anyone. It was always in the back of my mind even when you told me how you really felt about me.”
“That’s because I hadn’t met you. I crashed hard into love with you, Jag. Pride and fear of you not returning those feelings had me playing it all off as fun.” I reached over and placed my hand on his face. “We were truly meant for each other. The guy who didn’t believe in love and the guy who was afraid he didn’t deserve to be loved. Somehow, we were just what the other needed.”
“Perfect fit.”
“Perfect fit,” I agreed. “You know what holiday is coming up, don’t you?”
A serious scowl marred his handsome face as he thought about it. “It’s not a holiday, Bones. It’s a sappy-ass occasion created by greeting card companies to make money. I refuse to participate.”
“We celebrated it last year, and it was one of the most memorable nights in our relationship. I loved it.” I waggled my eyebrows at him.
“My gift to you was a bright red cock ring. That’s hardly romantic.”
“It was fucking hot.” I noticed the temperature inside the car was rising too as we both recalled the way he’d tortured me until I begged him to let me come. My voice had been raw from pleading, and my body had been covered in sweat. The delayed orgasm had ripped through me and left me in a boneless heap in the middle of his bed. “Best Valentine’s Day gift ever.”
“You’re so easy to please, Bones.” He leaned forward and kissed my lips. “We probably should buy something for our little Valentines, though. They’ll be coming home from the Candlesses that night, so we should do something special. Any suggestions?”
“Just a little gift and their favorite dinner. Those are the kinds of memories I want to make with them. I don’t want to turn it into something material and meaningless.” I cocked my head and smiled wickedly at him. “We’ll have some time to ourselves to have a private celebration, and I know where I hid my gift from last year.”
His eager smile matched my own. “Break in the new house properly? Sounds like a perfect night to me.”
Jag drove me back to the university where I’d left my car. My lips lingered against his for a few extra minutes during our goodbye kiss. It was my late night, and I wouldn’t see him again until it was almost time to put the kids to bed. Our kiss ended, and we sat there with our foreheads pressed together. Something huge and momentous had happened to us that day, and it deserved a few extra moments of appreciation.
It was the first official day of moving forward as a family—Jag, Lucas, Lily, and me.
JJ
Iwas exhausted on the morning of moving day for all the right reasons—marathon sex with Miller the previous night. The kids had genuinely seemed excited to spend the weekend with the Candlesses, and we took advantage of our first night and morning alone in over a month. I wanted to stay in bed with him all day, but we had moving trucks showing up at both houses, and we had to get up and get going.
I was happy and relieved to see all our friends show up at our new house to help us unload the furniture and boxes. I thought maybe it wouldn’t take as long with all the guys pitching in to help, and I would have more alone time with Miller so I could give him his gift from me. Actually, it was more like a gift to myself.
We had taken the time to label the boxes so it would be easier to sort through all our stuff, but even so, it took us until lunchtime to get all the boxes and furniture unloaded then moved into the designated areas.
Miller and I wanted to focus most of our energy into having Lucas’s and Lily’s rooms perfect for when they came home for the first time. It was the home they’d share with us until they went to college and maybe longer. They would have sleepovers here and birthday parties. We’d celebrate all the holidays as a family in the home Miller and I had bought together. I ordered pizza and soda to feed the guys, then we set about putting the beds together. I wasn’t worried about our bed because we could work on our room once the guys left. Hell, I’d sleep on a concrete floor as long as Miller was beside me.
“Pizza’s here,” Liam hollered up the stairs. A chorus of “Thank God” echoed from all corners of the house.
“Be right down, Ace.” Jack’s reply made me smile. He had changed so much since he’d allowed himself to love Liam. I was certain people were saying similar things about me. Jack looked up from the screwdriver he was using to secure the headboard of Lily’s bed to a side rail and caught me smiling at him. “What?” he groused.
“Nothing.” I shrugged and laughed, which earned me a dangerous scowl from the big guy. “There’s the look I’m used to seeing on your face.”
“That’s because you were always looking my guy up and down like he was your next meal,” Jack replied with a smirk.
“He wasn’tyourguy then,” I corrected. “And I was just admiring the scenery. I never hit on him.”
“He was alwaysmyguy, even when I didn’t want to admit it to myself. You never hit on him because of the look I gave you.” Jack tilted his head and dared me to argue his point, but I couldn’t. “That’s what I thought,” he said smugly before giving the bed a hard shake to make sure it held firm. “Let’s eat.”
Chase and Gray were stepping out of the first-floor half bath when I came downstairs. I could tell what they’d been up to by the looks on their faces. “You boys work up an appetite in there?” There was no way I was letting them off the hook. They were still giving Miller and me crap every time we went over to their house. “I hope you cleaned up after yourselves and washed your hands.” Jack laughed as he walked past us on his way to the kitchen.
“That’s a well-crafted vanity cabinet you have in there,” Chase said, then followed Jack.
