Page 160 of The Shot You Missed
I suck in a deep breath as soon as we step out into the warm summer night. Everything with Ryland aside, tonight was fun.The crowds didn’t bother me the way they used to, and I didn’t flinch at every photo flash or curious look. Because I had Bash beside me and our friends surrounding me.
Maybe I can really do this. I can show the world who Violet Quinn is, embrace the chaos, and find joy in it if these are the people behind me. My heart swells, feeling too big for my chest as we walk back to the arena and Sebastian’s car.
“You look happy,” Bash says, a soft smile playing at his lips.
“I am. Really happy.”
“I’m sorry that dickhead tried to ruin your night.” He gives my hand a squeeze.
“Me too. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not with you there. And everyone else.” I suck in a breath. “And not when you love me.”
Bash tugs me to him, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing people to part and go around us. Normally, something like that would make me feel self-conscious. But not anymore. Not when Bash has me pressed to his chest, arms around me, head bent to look down at me with heat and love glittering through his eyes.
He lowers his nose, letting it brush against mine. “I do love you. So much, baby. I have loved you for so long that it’s written in my DNA now. I don’t know who I am without loving you. And now that I have you back, I hope you know I’m never, ever letting you go.”
“No?” The question is breathless. He’s taking all the oxygen.
“Nope. You’re mine now. Forever, if you’ll have me.”
My heart gallops in my chest, and I blink wildly at him. “Are you asking?”
“Not yet,” he says, so softly. Calloused fingers skim my cheekbones before brushing a strand of hair off my face. “We don’t need to rush. But Iwillask. You can count on that.”
If he wasn’t holding on to me, I fear I would float away. “You’d better.”
“Cross my heart, Rosebud. Now, come on. If I have to wait much longer to bury myself in you, I’m going to lose my mind.”
He’s not the only one.
“Then we’d better hurry.”
fifty-three
SEBASTIAN
She loves me.Indigo Rose Bloom fucking loves me.
We spill into my house, a tangle of limbs, need, and grasping fingers. I can’t get her clothes off quickly enough, and if her frustrated growl as she tugs at the buttons on my shirt is anything to go by, she can’t either.
“Why are there so many buttons?” She frowns, stares at the buttons on my shirt for a moment, then looks up at me with a determined expression. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“What?”
Buttons go flying when she grips both sides of the shirt and gives it a good tug.
Laughing, I shrug out of the ruined shirt as she pushes it off my arms and onto the floor. “God, that was hot.”
“Not as hot as you,” she murmurs as her fingers ghost over my chest. “I’ve written some attractive male main characters, but none of them have anything on you.”
“Thanks, baby.” I tug Indie’s shirt over her head, then undo her bra as she unbuttons her pants and pushes them to the floor.When she steps out of them, she’s in nothing but a pair of pink lace panties that only cover half of her ass.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
“Look at you,” I murmur, awe apparent in my voice. “You are so beautiful, Indie.”
My girl shifts, her hands twitching at her sides like she’s fighting the urge to cover herself.
But she doesn’t.
