His expression changed.
Something deeper.
Something that hit straight through me.
“You aren’t nothing, Ever,” he said.
“What about that girl?”I asked.
He shrugged.“She doesn’t matter.She’s nothing now.I have a past, and so do you, Ever.All I care about is what’s in front of me right now.”
I stared at him.
Unsure.
Unsteady.
“What does that make me?”I asked.
He leaned in, his lips hovering just a breath from mine.
“Mine.Everything.”
The words hit me like a shockwave.
Before I could react—
He kissed me.
Hard.
Deep.
Like he meant every single thing he’d just said.
My hands came up automatically, gripping his shirt, pulling him closer as I melted into him despite everything still spinning in my head.
It wasn’t careful.
It wasn’t hesitant.
It was everything at once.
When he finally pulled back, we were both breathing hard.
And then, a loud bell rang.
Over.
And over.
And over.
I jerked back, blinking as the noise registered.
Thorn stood behind the bar, grinning like an idiot as he rang the bell like his life depended on it.
“What is that?”I laughed breathlessly.“Why is there a bell behind the bar?”
