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“Hey!” I bark out, aiming to get his attention. “Adam!”

That gets his attention. “Yeah?” I close the distance, clench the neckline of his shirt, and yank him toward me. “What the fuck, man?”

“The name is Easton,” I cut him off. “And if you think I’m going to walk away from Lennon and that baby, you’re the stupidest fucking man on the planet.” He’s clearly confused, but I don’t let him speak. “That’s my wife, my child, my family. You walked away, but I’ll never leave them or let them down. You can’t say the same, so you need to go.”

“That’s what I was trying to fucking do!” He shoves at my chest, forcing me to release him even though I don’t want to.

“Easton!” Lennon shouts as she rushes over to us. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Just making sure this piece of shit knows I’ll put up a fight if he tries to come back into our lives.”

Lennon shakes her head at me, but my eyes remain fixated on the pathetic excuse of a man in front of me. “He won’t. That’s why I needed to talk to him.” She waves a stack of papers in front of my face. “Now let him go so we can talk!”

Adam practically runs, and I track him until Lennon cups my face, pulling me back to reality. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind, Easton?”

I meet her gaze. “That’s what it felt like sitting in that hotel room alone, Lennon. Wondering what the fuck you were talking to him about.”

“I told you to trust me.”

“I do. Fuck,” I breathe out, resting my forehead on hers. “I trust you, I just…”

She places one hand in the center of my chest and takes my hand with the other, drawing familiar circles on my wrist, followed by two taps. “Your heart is pounding, Easton. Breathe, please.”

I take a few moments to gather my wits as her touch does its job, and then ask the question that’s been on my mind for far too long. “Do you love me?”

She gasps. “Easton…”

“Do you love me, Lennon?”

Her gaze darts around the hotel lobby. “This isn’t the place for this conversation.”

I grab both of her hands in mine, holding them against my chest now, committed to the moment because it sure as fuck isn’t perfect, but it’s real. Raw. Us.

“It’s a simple question, baby. Do. You. Love. Me?”

She rips her hands from mine and throws them into the air, still clutching the stack of papers. “Yes! Okay? I fucking love you, and I’d endure every painful part of my life again if I knew you and I would end up right here, all right?”

The corner of my mouth lifts as the brick on my heart crumbles to dust. “A simple yes would have worked.”

“Well, once upon a time you told me not to hold back on what I want to say, so I didn’t.”

Framing her face with my hands, I reply, “You’re finally listening.”

Tears form in her eyes as her bottom lip trembles. “I am.”

“Then listen when I tell you this.” I bend my knees to look her straight in the eye. “Lennon Banks Riley, I’ve loved you since we were teenagers. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I love you even more now. I promise to love you and our baby for the rest of my life if you’ll let me. I can’t handle the thought of losing you again—of losing us. My heart chose you so long ago that nothing could change what I’ve always known deep down: you and I belong together. Please let me love you the way I’ve always wanted to.”

A tear slips down her cheek, but she grins back at me. “I guess I can manage that.”

“A simple okay would have been fine.”

“Okay, Easton,” she says as she draws in a shaky breath. “Okay.”

Without wasting another second, I crash my mouth to hers, pulling her into my chest and kissing her with everything in me.

The tension leaves my body faster than I expected. Lennon and I have chosen each other. She wants me, and I don’t have to hide my feelings anymore.

We can be together and have the life I always imagined I would with her by my side.