I don’t need anyone as much as I need Layla, and that has been true since the day I met her.
She’s been my rock.
My shelter.
The lover I never imagined having.
She matches me perfectly in all areas, even the areas we differ in because fuck do I need her alternate stance sometimes. Her different way of loving and protecting.
She’s made me a better man simply by knowing her.
Being loved by her has been the greatest gift in my life.
I end the kiss and cup her cheek. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
She smiles up at me. “Just FYI, we’re cutting sugar and fat from your diet.”
I arch a brow. “Are we?”
“Yes.”
“Because?”
She stands on her toes and brushes her lips over mine. “Because I need you to still be able to fuck me like that in your old age.”
With that, she untangles herself from me and steps into the shower, leaving me needing her again in ways I’m convinced not even another fifty years of having her will satisfy.
17
GRIFF & SOPHIA - A DAY IN THE LIFE
10 YEARS LATER
Five months after the Epilogue in Colt’s book
Sophia’s POV
5:20 a.m.
“What are you thinking?”Griff’s lips brush my ear as he spoons me tighter.
I place my hand over his at my stomach and smile. “Morning, handsome.”
He slides his hand up from my stomach to my breasts, cupping one as he kisses my neck. “You’ve been awake for the last half hour, and I can hear your brain thinking. What’s going on in there?”
I roll to face him. “How long have you been awake?”
“Sophia.” My name growls out of him. He knows I’m stalling, and his eyes hold the intense gaze I’ve lived with for ten years, the gaze that’s telling me he won’t let this go.
I run my eyes over the lines on his forehead. The lines I’m sure I helped put there. Reaching up, I trace a finger over them before finding his eyes again. “Do you think we made the right decision?”
“Fuck.” It’s another growl out of his mouth, along with a whole lot of misgiving. My husband knows exactly what decision I’m referring to even though it’s not a recent one. “I knew your brain was working overtime on this.”
I smile gently as I finish committing those creases on his forehead to my memory again. “I’m okay. I promise. It’s just some thoughts that have been running through my mind for a while that I’m now ready to talk about with you.”
His eyes search mine for the longest time and I give him the space for this. I know he’s been worrying over me even though he hasn’t come out and said it. After a decade with Griff, I can read him just as well as he can read me. Finally, he says, “Yes. We made the right decision.”
His words settle deep within me, landing exactly as I needed them to. I know we made the right choice, but sometimes I need Griff to reassure me.
