Page 162 of Into the Woods

I chuckled. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, because I have zero plans of you waking up in any bed that doesn’t have me in it, too.”

She softened in my arms, the trust in her gaze staggering. Like I had the answers for her problems. Or, at least, for this problem.

“I only have my internship this semester,” I reminded her, “and technically I’ve met all the requirements for that already. I can check in remotely and fly back if I need to for a few days.”

Her eyes sparkled. “You’d stay in Paris?”

“Princess, I’d stay in a goddamn shoebox with you,” I told her, leaning in to kiss the top of her head.

“What about Phoenix? And Linc?”

I sighed. “Phoenix can run just fine without me, especially if we have people like Lieutenant Striker in our corner. Royal and Rook handle most of the day-to-day shit, and they’re bringing on one of Rook’s SEAL buddies, too.”

“Trick?” she asked.

I shook my head. “His contract isn’t up with the Navy yet. It’s Rook’s old CO.”

“CO?”

“Commanding officer,” I explained. “Royal met with him a month ago and offered him a job. I haven’t met him yet, but his wife’s a nurse and they have a kid. Rook’s trying to convince him to move closer to Pacific City, but we’ll see.”

“You’d really be okay living in Paris until I go back to the States for college?” She sounded so unsure. What was it going to take to prove that I was all-in? That she was it for me?

“I’d really be okay living in an igloo at the North Pole with you,” I assured her.

She giggled. “Okay. So you’ll… what? Find an apartment?”

“We will find an apartment,” I corrected. “Somewhere close to your grandparents and mom.”

“And when I go to college?” she pressed.

“We’ll figure that out, too,” I answered, confident in the answer because there was no alternative. Just because I’d been accepted into Stanford didn’t mean I had to go.

“I don’t have to go to PCU,” she added, her voice brightening with hope. “I can apply at schools near you, too.”

“Or,” I countered, “I can find a law school near PCU. We have options, baby.”

“I guess we have a few months to figure it all out,” she murmured. She stared up at me, wonder in her eyes. “I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

Her body pressed against mine. “That we’re here. Together. That we all survived and I got the guy.”

“Princess, you’ve always had the guy,” I told her. “I can’t believe I got my girl.”

She pursed her lips. “Keep that in mind the next time I drive you crazy.”

My hands palmed her round ass and squeezed. “You can drive me crazy any day of the week, Becca.” I leaned in, nuzzling the side of her neck. My lips feathered a soft kiss over the skin under her jaw, and I felt her shudder in my arms. “Just as long as I can drive you crazy.”

She let out a breathy giggle. “Deal. Now how about you take me inside and show me just how crazy you can make me?”

I pulled back, arching a brow. “Is that a challenge?”

“If you’re up for it,” she replied with a coy smirk.

Pressing my already hard cock against her stomach, I growled, “With you? I’m always up for it.”

She tipped her head back and let out a full laugh that did funny things to my heart.

This was it. This was the moment I’d been waiting for; the moment when my entire damn life just made sense. And it was all because of this woman.

She was mine, and I was hers.

For-fucking-ever.