“Anyway, lemme talk… You’re my first love. The first person who made me glad to be born. The first to make me dream of a normal life. And this?” I point at my side. “First time getting shot.” I grin. That sounds impressive. She should be flattered.
She glares at me. If she were a meme, the caption would read:And should I be happy?
“I never caught a bullet for anyone. Never wanted to,” I add.
Her face scrunches. She presses her lips together hard, like she’s trying to contain a sob. Air shudders in and out, and she clenches and unclenches her hands. “You should’veducked,” she says finally.
“Then I would’ve missed, and he would’ve shot you next. We can’t have that.”
Silent tears pour down her cheeks. I swipe my thumbs over them.
“When I manifested the perfect man for me, taking a bullet for me was on the list…” Her breath hitches.
I grin. “So does that mean I’m your perfect man?”
“I didn’t want it to happen for real!”
“Come on. It isn’t that bad,” I say. “I have a very high pain tolerance. If I were a woman, I could pop a baby out without an epidural, no problem.”
She shakes her head, then lets out a teary laugh. “You’re impossible.”
“And crazy about you.” I hold her hand, threading our fingers. My head feels like a balloon full of helium, ready to fly high in the sky. “I love you, Bobbi Bright. You’re the light of my life. And that will never change, till death do us part and beyond.”
She runs a hand over her wet cheeks. “My God.”
“Not your God. Just me. Noah Lasker.” I kiss the crown of her head. “Now, tell me you love me, too.”
She barks out a laugh. “You can’t justdemand—”
“You’re going to be sad if you let me die without telling me how you feel.”
“I thought you were going to survive this.” The fire in her eyes says if I don’t, she’ll never forgive me.
“Well…yeah. Of course. But just in case.”
“I’m not telling you anything until you’re fully recovered.”
“Is this your way of making sure I get better?”
“It is.” She presses her lips together, but they tremble anyway.
She couldn’t look more beautiful. And she’s mine. My woman. My life. My everything. I can take another bullet for her, although if I tell her that, she’ll probably kill me. “Fine, then. I’ll get better.”
It’s been almost ten minutes. Contact2608 is going to arrive any second. His team is always punctual. I exhale, then strip my face of all humor. “Hey. You gotta promise me something.”
“What?” she whispers.
“You can’t tell my brothers about this. Seriously. Like, never.”
“Of course not. I’ll never tell your secrets to anyone.”
“Thank you.” I give her an easy smile. “I don’t want to survive getting shot only to die of second-hand embarrassment as they fuss over me like a bunch of pussies.” My fingers brush over the bruises starting to form on her face. “And you promise to get better too, okay? See all the docs you need to see, patch up everything that needs patching up.”
She takes my hovering hand in hers. “Okay. I promise.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Noah
