Page 157 of Thorn Kiss
“I don’t think that’s how you get glue off.” But, I found myself really smiling. “It’s scary. You’re scary. Madi is scary.”
“You know what’s scarier?”
“What?”
“The thought of losing you.”
His answer left me speechless. His expression buckled and I saw the pain there. The sadness.
“You have no idea how much I want you in my life, June. How much I wish that every morning I’d wake up with you by my side. I want us to give this a chance. A real chance. Without a sex proposal, without any rules, without any fear.Allof us deserve that.” He sucked in a breath. “But I can’t be the only one who wants it.”
Iwanted it.
I knew that I did. I’d been fighting that desire so much, but it was there. Deep and longing and wishing.
Dallas and Madi made all the hardened parts of me softer.
They’d dug their way through the chainmail around my heart.
“It makes me want to run away,” I whispered. “But I want it too.”
“As long as I know you want it, I’ll always catch you.”
“Hmm . . .” I pressed my forehead to his. “Won’t you get tired?”
“No. Never. Besides, running is my favorite thing to do as long as it’s running toward you. I love you, June. Ilove you.I want you to be in my life forever. Madi loves you too.”
I sucked in a breath. “What? Did she say that?”
“She doesn’t have to. It’s written all over her face every time she looks at you. It’s there on her lips every time she kisses you. I love you. She loves you. And we . . .”
“Love her,” I whispered, my voice shaky. “I love her.”
He nodded. He’d known.
“And I love you.” I shook my head as a weight lifted off my chest. “I love you.”
“I know,” he whispered, his smile soft.
For the first time—I didn’t fight the feeling of being loved.
I let it wrap itself around me like my favorite wool blanket.
I let it hold me like steady, strong arms.
I let it rescue me from all of the sadness, the fear, the pain that I’d been letting drag me down for so long.
I let myself rest in it instead of running.
No more running.
“I need to make a few calls,” I whispered. “I need to call my brother and tell him about our mom. We need to make a report or something to document that she’s trying to cause problems. But, more than that, we need to go to homecoming.”
Dallas slowly smiled. “I never thought I’d hear you, of all people, say that. Should I get you a mum?”
“God, no. I’d be happy if I never saw one again.”
“You say that every year.”
