“Very possible, actually.” She gives me a stunningly bright smile that breaks my heart a bit. “People do that. A lot.”
I think of her millions of fans turning on her for nothing, and I’m suddenly furious. “You belong here, Summer. You belong with us.” I catch her hands between mine, keeping her in place. “Please. Stay.”
She looks up at me, her chest rising and falling with quick breaths. She looks confused, like she can’t believe this is happening. I relate. I’m confused too. But I know I’m doing the right thing. She has to stay.
“You…really want me?” she says slowly. “Are you sure?”
“Christ, Summer.Aye, we want you. I already can’t imagine living here without you.”
She thinks for a few long moments. My heart is beating fast. I don’t know what I’ll do if she says no. I don’t know what happens if she decides to leave, and we’re left here alone again. I think of it; Fraser miserable, Cameron silent, me working every day away without any of her glimmers of sunshine. I don’t want to go back to that. I don’t know how I didn’t see it sooner.
“We have to talk to Cameron and Fraser first,” she says eventually. “They have to agree.”
Relief slams into me like a lorry. “They’ll agree,” I promise. “You want to call them now?” I pull my phone from my back pocket. One glance at the screen shows no bars. “No signal,” I say. “Must be the storm. But they’ll say yes, Summer.”
She worries her lip. “Even Cameron?”
“Aye.” He’s been head over heels for her for a long time now. “I’m sure of it.”
She smiles, looking a bit dazed. “Wow,” she whispers. “Three boyfriends? What an overachiever.”
I can’t help it. I start to laugh. That warm, golden-sunlight feeling is flooding me, filling me up inside.
Summer’s eyes soften. “You’re so beautiful when you do that.”
I just scoop her into my arms, making her squeak. I carry her back to the living room sofa, letting myself fall backward onto the cushions with her on top of me, and drag her in for a hard kiss. When I pull away, her face is pink, and her lips are swollen from mine.
She shivers, laying her head on my chest. “Wow,” she whispers. “I never thought I’d havethreepeople who wanted me.”
My heart feels like it’s going to explode. I drag the blanket off the floor and carefully drape it over both of us. She snuggles into me, letting her eyes fall shut. Outside, the harsh crash of the rain softens to a distant rush.
“You know,” she murmurs, “I feel like an objective observermightsay you just did a little bit of begging.”
“Dream on,” I tell her, pulling her in for another kiss.
SIXTY-TWO
ALEC
Iwake up to a softbaa. I groan and roll over, my head thick and foggy with sleep. There’s another insistentbaa, and then something nudges me. I blearily push myself upright, looking around.
I’m on the sofa in the lounge. The room is dark. The fire has banked, the coals glowing orange behind the grate. Summer is curled up under my arm, fast asleep. As I look down at her, something warms inside me.
She’s staying. She wants to stay.
It feels unbelievable. A few weeks ago, I didn’t even know her. But she’s changed everything.
She’s ours now.
A sudden flash of lightning cracks through the lounge, illuminating everything in stark white. I stiffen as the windowpanes all rattle ominously. A few seconds later, a deep roll of thunder rumbles overhead. The storm must be right on top of us.
Shit. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I must have been so comfortable that my body forgot to be alert.
There’s another loudbaa. I look down. Crumpet is standing on the rug, looking up at me with huge eyes.
“Hey,” I murmur to her. “You’re due a feed. Are you hungry?”
Shebaas even louder. “Okay, okay,” I mumble. Summer murmurs in her sleep as I carefully extricate myself from under her and settle her back onto the sofa, tucking the blanket over her. “Come on then,” I tell Crumpet, heading into the kitchen.
