He coughed and choked over a mouthful. I reached over and patted his back. It would probably be wrong to slip my hand under his shirt to help.
“Shut up,” he croaked before taking a gulp of his water.
“Relax, snook. I’m more than willing to wait. No matter how long you hold out.”
His jaw clenched as he sniffed. “Then maybe I will give you what you want to finally be rid of you.”
Laughter burst out of me. I placed my empty bowl on the floor and shook my head. “Baby, if you think giving yourself to me will bore me in the end, you’d be dead wrong.”
He huffed. “You cannot know that.”
He didn’t know me yet, so he didn’t understand that when I fixated on something, I never let it go. And okay, I’d never been this taken by a person, but deep in my bones, I already knew I wouldn’t give him up either.
I’d have my damn ring on his finger.
“Snook, I do.”
He let out a frustrated groan before he placed his bowl on the floor. “Watch the movie, Link.”
“You’ll see.”
“Watch the movie.”
“Babe, what are you afraid of?”
“Nothing,” he stated.
“Bull. I have a past, but I wouldn’t fool around with someone’s feelings if I wasn’t serious. If you’re attracted to meand agree to give us a chance, I’ll do everything in my power to prove that your risk was worth it.”
He glowered over at me, crossing his arms over his chest. “Can you honestly say you see yourself with a man for the rest of your life?”
“Yes.”
“What about children?”
“We can adopt.”
“I work for Wolf. I won’t leave?—”
“I can move in with you.”
“You have an empire to run. An illegal empire that my boss gave a large chunk of up because he wants his family safer than it was.”
Shit.
“We’ll think of something. Hell, I’ll buy the joint next door, and we can build an underground tunnel for you to sneak in and out of so no one from my business will come at you or Wolf.” I sat up. “Actually, that’s a fuckin’ brilliant idea. I don’t want you harmed in any damn way, so if we have a tunnel?—”
Soft laughter had me shutting the fuck up so I could listen to it. Ryo had his eyes closed as he used the back of his hand to cover his mouth while he shared his mirth with me.
When he opened his eyes and saw me watching, a blush rose, and he snapped his lips closed.
I smiled. “Love” was all I said.
He shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
“For you, yeah, baby.”
“Don’t call me that.”
