I loved his growl.
Even so…
“I thought I was…I…” Ugh, I had to give this to him. “I thought I was in deeper than you.”
His forehead came to mine, knowing him taking things up with Cheyenne made me feel that way, and he whispered, “Baby.”
“It never feels good to be the one on that side of a relationship.”
“You weren’t.”
“I get that now, but…” I shrugged against the mattress. “There it is.”
“That’s never going to be you.”
I blinked at the fierceness of his tone.
“I’m so deep in this for you, it was like the last year was a fuckin’ fever dream, daily torture, and I couldn’t wake up,” he declared.
Oh God.
I hated that for the both of us, especially him.
I ran my hands up his back.
“I’m like Jacob,” he stated. “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life breaking my back to prove I’m worthy of you.”
Now…
Hang on a ding-dang second.
“Knox—”
He touched his mouth to mine, lifted his head, and said, “No discussion. It’s just what it is. You want a dance studio, I’ll build it with my own hands if I have to.”
“I’m not a ballerina, and I consider any kind of activity, except shopping, sex, serving, interior design and the occasional organization project, anathema.”
He ignored me. “You wanna go to Paris, pack, we’re on a plane.”
“Knox—”
“You want a mansion like Mace and Stella in Paradise Valley, I’ll take bouncer jobs to add to our income so I can give it to you.”
“Stop it, Knox.”
He put gentle pressure on my head with his hands. “You need to get this, baby.”
“And you need to get…baby…that isn’t how it works,” I snapped.
When my temper suddenly flared, he stared down at me in surprise.
I pushed him off to his side (right, he helped because he rolled, no way I could push that mountain of muscle off me on my own steam) and got up to my hand to loom over him.
“You know, if I ever see your mother, I’m fucking that bitch up.”
“Luna—”
“Granted, if your dad was backhanding her, and obviously the whole drug dealer thing was bullshit, I totally understand her need to get away. But disappearing? Not fighting for you? Up in smoke except for sending money, no phone calls, not even heartfelt letters about how much she missed you, until it’s easy for her to find you and reach out on her own time. Nah. That’s total horseshit.”
