“I was never gonna go through with it.”
“No, you weren’t.”
She furrowed her brows. “If you knew I wouldn’t, then why set it up?”
The corner of his lip curved. “Because if I hadn’t, you would have always wondered what if…” His hand circled her jaw, his thumb strummed her cheek. “Now you won’t. You’ll know exactly what you would do.”
“You really didn’t want me to do it?”
He shook his head. “No, I told ya that. And here’s something I didn’t mention, I don’t think your mom would have wanted you to either. Or your dad. Not because Harris didn’t deserve it but because you wouldn’t deserve to live with that weight on your shoulders.”
She pushed off her side, wrapping her arm around his waist and curling into his chest. He shifted back letting her fit next to him before holding her as close as he could get her.
She whispered. “Now what?”
“What do ya mean?”
“Well, what do we do now?”
He chuckled. “That’s a loaded question. You never ask a man who has a beautiful half-naked woman in his bed, ‘what do we do now?’”
She laughed and slapped his chest. “You know what I mean. What happens with us?”
“Same thing what’s been going on, minus the hiding from fancy Italian named thugs and murderous vigilante plots. I’ll stir shit up though and keep you on your toes if you need it. Don’t want you thinking life with me will be boring.”
“I could use a little boring right now.”
“All right, then boring it is. We’ll start our boring existence tomorrow. Dinner and a movie? Sex is optional.”
She giggled. She almost sounded surprised by her own laugh. “Will that be boring too?”
He winked with a smirk. “Not on my worst day.”
She couldn’t imagine sex with Bogs boring, even if he tried, which was not her plan. She leaned up, kissing him and settled back down, resting her chin on chest. “I love you.”
“Love you too, pretty girl.”
****
The shimmering light peeked through the curtains as untangled her legs from his and grabbed his jeans from the floor. It was just after eight in the morning. He’d let her sleep for as long as she needed. After the night she had, he figured she had earned it. He was careful to sneak out of the room without much noise. He quietly made his way down the hall and the stairs.
He had heard the soft murmur of voices before he crept into the kitchen. Stone was sitting at the kitchen table.
“You guys stay here last night?”
Stone shook his head, sipping at his coffee. “No, just got here about twenty minutes ago. Figured we check on you.”
“Something wrong?”
T settled his mug on the table and leaned back in his chair. “She good?”
Bogs made his coffee and leaned against the island. He shrugged. He was hoping what he said last night would be enough for her to get through it but he had his doubts. It would take some time, more healing for a fresh wound. He didn’t know how long it would take but he did know he’d be there for as long as it took. Kenzie was his end.
“She’s good. Tougher than she looks, she’ll get through this.” It was an honest statement.
He had his back to the doorway when he heard the last step creak. T’s eyes flickered beyond him and he turned to see Kenzie, dressed and standing in the doorway. “Morning.”
She smiled awkwardly. He was set to push off the counter when she walked over to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her into his side. T moved out his chair and got up.
