Page 12 of Where I Escape

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The sound of pots and pans banging downstairs draws me from sleep. Warmth envelops me, telling me a very sexy man is still in my bed.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he says when I stir.

“Good morning to you, too.” Something drops to the floor in the kitchen with a loud clang as hushed whispers float upstairs. “Who’s in my house?”

“Well, since you set the alarm when we got back last night, it can only be four people. Either it’s all of them or some of them. I heard a male and a female voice, but I can’t make out who they belong to.”

I glance over and realize my bedroom door is wide open and I’m still blissfully naked in bed with Finn. At least there’s a sheet covering us. “Maybe we should get dressed and see who’s down there.”

He drags his nose along my neck. “But that means I have to let you go.”

“You never have to let me go. I’m in this for as long as you’ll have me,” I say honestly.

He lifts his head and smiles. “Until death? Because I have no intention of ever being without you. I want to be in bed with you every night.” He kisses my nose. “Have meals with you every day.” He kisses my cheek. “And spend every day telling you how much I love you.”

I smile. “I can’t believe this is real.”

Someone groans from the doorway. “Oh, come on,” Parker says. “I don’t need to hear this.”

“Problem, Maxfield?” Finn asks.

“Yeah, I don’t want to hear the mushy stuff you’re saying to my best friend.”

“Well, she’s my girlfriend now, so get used to it.”

Parker doesn’t turn, just keeps his back to us. “I want better than girlfriend, Finn. B isn’t someone you screw around with then leave when you’re bored or when shit gets tough. Remember, I know where you live, and Cy and I are quite capable of breaking down your door and kicking your ass.”

I chuckle. “I know you are, but this is only the beginning of Blair and me. I’m not about to propose to her yet.” Yet. I hang on to that word. Maybe one day, he will. I shouldn't be thinking about marriage. One fucking date and I have us reciting vows.

Finn tickles my side, bringing me back to the present. “There you go again, getting lost.”

“It was a good thought.”

He smiles warmly. “That’s what I like to hear.”

“Okay, enough,” Parker says. “Get dressed and get downstairs. Eve’s cooking breakfast and I’m still pissed at them for volunteering me to come up here. I love you, B, but I never want to see you tangled in the sheets with Bradley again.”

I take the pillow from behind my head and launch it across the room at him. A pitcher, I am not. I end up hitting his calves.

“Nice shot, ace,” he says before leaving. Then I hear him yell down the stairs, “You’re lucky they weren’t fucking, or I would have punished all of you!”

I chuckle and face Finn again. “You sure you know what you’re getting into with me?”

"I do, and I love every second of it. You're mine, Blair. And I'm going to show you every day how much you mean to me.”

“I’m counting on it.”

We spend the next thirty minutes in bed. No, we don’t bother to close the door. Screw anyone who wants to come up here. Let them get a show. I’m going to prove to my man how much I love him and make him call out my name as I do so. Because I finally get my happily ever after. With all I’ve been through in my past, this is well deserved. True love does exist.