Page 98 of The Fighter

“That doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is you took care of me after the Shock fight, and now I’m taking care of you. And there isn’t a tally where we need to be even. We’ll take care of each other as much as it takes. That’s who we are, aren’t we?” His hand cupped my cheek and his brows furrowed. “Why’re you shaking, Con?”

I was. My whole body. And not because I was in pain, but because this was all so much. His words. This crash of adrenaline now that Devlin was dealt with. The absence of guilt that I’d clung to like a security blanket for ten years. Because in place of that guilt was a warmth that terrified me, that felt so fucking full that I could burst with it.

“I love you.”

Tav’s body stilled. His only movement was to curl his fingers into my cheek as his eyes bored into mine. “What?” He breathed.

“I love you, Tav. So fucking much I feel like my skin could split.”

His chest heaved. “Con.”

“Kiss me.”

“Your lips are still swollen.”

“I don’t care.”

“Con—”

“Kiss me.” His lips touched mine, just a brush, a tease. I dug my fingers into his hip. “I’m sorry this isn’t romantic.”

“Oh fuck off.” His laughter warmed my skin. “I don’t want romance. I want my tongue in your mouth.”

The pain in my lips was barely there as I parted my lips. His tongue slipped inside, licking across my tongue, over my teeth, claiming me in a way only Tav could. He kissed like he’d die without me, and I kissed him back like I’d die without him.

“I love you,” he murmured, his lips all over my cheeks, my neck, my shoulder. “We’re going to do this, Con. You and me.”

“Forever,” I whispered.

And I felt his smile against my skin.

EPILOGUE

Conrad

Four months later…

Tav gripped Holden’s legs as he perched on his uncle’s shoulders, and the boy frantically pointed at the massive dinosaur skeleton that stretched two stories above us. The two made a simultaneous roar sound that dissolved into giggles and laughter, their identical dimples popping.

Amara, her arm threaded through mine, smiled and discretely brushed a happy tear from her face. I rolled my eyes at her, and she smacked my chest with a huff. But I hid the swallow around my own clogged throat.

Tav and Holden were two peas in a pod, both hyperactive personalities when they felt safe and comfortable, both competitive little gym freaks, and both disgusting eaters. Genetics were wild.

We had planned this trip months ago for Holden’s birthday and had taken a flight—Holden and Amara’s first—to New York City to visit as many museums and attractions as we could in aweek. Tomorrow, we’d be heading to the Bronx Zoo, and Holden was very excited for the monkeys.

Holden, sitting on Tav’s shoulders, could be seen well above the crowd, and so Amara and I followed lazily behind. We’d grown close in the last few months, as she now held a position at my company, one that paid her well enough to afford the apartment in the same building as my own. Tav liked her close, and now that she’d begun dating, she found she liked easy access to a babysitter.

“We might be here until closing,” she murmured.

“There’s a whole cafeteria here,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”

“Maybe you and I can escape and get a latte.”

I could have used the caffeine but nixed the idea. “And leave those two to wander the museum alone?” I shuddered. “Bad idea.”

“You’re right. They’ll break something.”

“Exactly. I’m rich, but I’m not museum-artifact rich.”