“Me too.” I kiss her lips, along her jaw, then down her neck as she arches up into me while her body continues to shiver with her release.
“Tell me again,” she pleads.
“I love you, Rae. I loved you yesterday, today, I’ll love you tomorrow and every day for the rest of our lives,” I say softly into her ear, just for us. Even with Grayson here, this moment is just for us.
“I’ll always love you,” she whispers back.
I kiss her deeply once again, then trail my mouth down to her chest, her stomach, until I’m between her legs and kiss her sensitive clit, which has her jolting at the contact.
Grayson takes advantage of having access to her face and kisses her lips. I move to let him cover her body with his, knowing they need this moment too. And I want them to have it. Maybe this is what maturing and falling in love is like. Wanting the best for her, wanting whatever will make her happy. Even as I watch another man make love to the woman I love, I want her. I want this life.
I finally understand what everyone goes on about with this love shit.
We all fallinto Grayson’s bed, the events of everything catching up to us once he makes Rae come once again and finds his own release. It feels a little weird to be here, but I understand Rae not wanting to be at her house. I don’t particularly want to be there either. If I think about everything that happened too much, I’ll end up finding that guy sitting in his jail cell and finish what I started by killing him.
My body is tired, and I want nothing more than to fall asleep right now, I just can’t. Rae rolls over, facing me, and she should be exhausted too, but her eyes are open and looking up at me.
“Is Wheeler asleep?” I ask softly.
She nods. “Yeah, he could sleep through a natural disaster.”
“Must be nice,” I scoff. Guess that’s what happens when you live an unproblematic life. And also work hard because I have to give respect where it’s due that as an athlete he does work hard. I take in her face, trying not to linger on the bandaged cut on her forehead, but my jaw clenches at the sight. “How are you, really?”
She looks down, resting her hand on my chest, tracing the muscles there. Her skin is soft, but she has calluses on her fingers from playing the guitar and they scrape against me slightly.
“I’ll be okay,” she tells me softly, her fingers moving up toward my shoulder and the scars there from surgery. She repeats my words back to me. “How are you, really?”
“I’ve never been better,” I tell her, and I’m not even lying. My shoulder may be sore, and I have enough anger in me to jump into a cage with several fighters and be able to come out unscathed. But right here, right now, with her and knowing this is my life. Yeah, I’ve really never been better.
She leans up and kisses me softly, then moves to lay back down, and I see her avoid my shoulder, instead resting her arm across my stomach. She hums, her arm feeling heavier as she relaxes and hopefully falls asleep soon.
“Asher,” she whispers softly.
“Hm?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being the reason I’ve found myself.”
CHAPTER 50
Grayson
We’re back at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and the last time I was here was before Rae and I were together. I never would have thought back then we would be where we are now. Experienced what we have, and that Asher would be here with us as well.
Rae refused to tell us much about this show. It’s a special pop up she’s doing to debut her new sound. I know Noah is here and they’re performing their duet together for the first time. As much as I didn’t want to like him, he’s actually a cool guy. Asher still acts like he’s going to swoop in and try to steal Rae from us, but I don’t think so. I saw how he looked at Nash, and I think he has an interest in a different Colver sibling.
Asher is talking to Audrey and Charlie while we all stand in the VIP family area before the show starts. He won’t admit it, but I think he likes having some family. I still don’t know everything about him and his past, but I know that he’s less of a miserable asshole lately.
An arm is around my shoulders, and my dad pulls me into his side with a shake. “How’s it going?”
“Great. You?”
“Couldn’t be better. But I learned somethinginteresting.”
“What?”
