Page 133 of The Ridge
I nod. “Just like when we were teens.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“It’s how I won you over the first time. I fought for every one you gave me. Figured it was worth a try again.” I brush my thumbacross her lips, and she rewards me with another smile—bright as her nickname, and the inspiration for the tattoo: a linework sun design with those three important numbers in the center.
I point at another empty spot on my skin, slightly down and to the right of the new tattoo.
“I’m saving this one for the boys.”
She raises an eyebrow in question.
“For when I finally hit one hundred points.”
She sniffles. “I love you so much, Riley.”
“You’re so precious to me, Steph. Love you forever.”
She lays her head back down in the crook of my shoulder, quiet for a few moments.
“I don’t get how I didn’t notice this before now.”
“Kept my shirt on the last few times we had sex.”
She frowns, propping herself up on her elbow once more to look me in the eyes. “You did? How’d you manage that?”
I chuckle. “Well, if you’ll recall, the last time was yesterday when you visited me while I was taking inventory at the bar, and I held you up against that shelf in the storage room,” I say with a smirk.
“Oh,” she whispers, blushing adorably. “That’s right. And the time before that …”
“The time before that,Ivisitedyouat the library at closing, and I bent you over the desk.”
She giggles, and I respond in kind, enjoying the way my chuckling causes her to bounce against my chest.
“They were both hard and fast.”
She bites her lip. “They were.”
“I barely got my pants down before I was sinking inside you, desperate to feel you.” I shrug. “Worked in my favor.”
“You heathen!” she exclaims, slapping my chest.
“What can I say? You bring it out in me.”
She huffs an amused breath that turns into more giggling. When she meets my eyes once more, hers are shining with a wealth of emotion—foremost among them, happiness. It’s a balm to my soul to see her like this, especially after all the tough stuff we’ve been working through.
“We have fun, don’t we?”
“We do.”
“Promise we always will? That we’ll keep having fun, keep loving each other even through the hard times.”
It’s an easy promise to make because I know I’ll never take this gift—us, our family—for granted. I’ll appreciate every minute of the time we have together, the second chance we fought for, for the rest of our lives.
“I promise, Sunshine. It might not have been easy getting here, and I know life’ll keep throwing us challenges, that’s just part of living, but loving you—loving our boys—is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. It’s my greatest joy, and I’m gonna keep doing it till the end of my days.”
