on leave following the shoot-out, and it seemed to me like they enjoyed spending just as much time together when they weren’t at work too. They’d take time together whenever they could get it—hospitals, grocery stores, my apartment. Hunter had given us plenty of time together too, but I could tell he wouldn’t have minded more Ry time. I could relate.
“Nope, free as a bird.” Ry looped the heavy arm around me and pulled me close for another kiss. “Stitches out, and the specialist said the bone is healing well.”
“How long until you get this off?” I ran my thumb over the edge of his cast and along the back of his hand.
Ry sighed and took my hand in his, as best he could with the cast. “Another month.”
“Yep, gotta stay waterproof for a month, kids.” Hunter clapped both of us on the back on his way to the door.
I frowned at him and tried to decipher the dirty joke he was trying to get to.
“Yeah, I dunno, that’s all I’ve got for comedic relief. I gotta go. Ry, I’ll drive you tomorrow?” Hunted pointed to
He nodded, and I was left glancing between the closed door and Ry.
“Tomorrow?” I asked cautiously.
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “The doctor said I’m fine to be on my own, so I can head home tomorrow.”
Panic surged through me. I’d been planning on bringing up our arrangement while he was still here, but I hadn’t thought the clock was ticking so fast. Shit. Now or never. I grabbed his good hand and squeezed it firmly. “Can we talk for a minute?”
He squeezed back and met my eye with such sweet confidence, I almost felt like I had nothing to worry about.
Almost.
Domino was stretched out along the back of the couch, so we took a seat beside each other. I glanced at the small easel to make sure Ry couldn’t see what was on it, while he cleared his throat and rested his cast on a pillow in his lap.
“What do you want to talk about?” He laced the fingers of his left hand through mine and tugged me back to his gaze.
I sighed and rubbed his thumb gently. Now or never. What would Howie say? Just get it over with, you’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain. We were already in a relationship…
“I want to redefine our arrangement.”
The words came out way easier than I thought they would, but they had a little bite to them and Ry pulled back a little.
“I’m not breaking up with you!” I said, rushed. “I want to make it more committed. I want to date you. Officially. If you would want to, I mean, it’s fine if you don’t, of course—”
Ry squeezed my hand and when I finally looked right at him, I found he was smiling. “What a relief. I want to date you, too.”
My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. I parted my lips to say something, but I had no idea how to follow up. I hadn’t expected such a quick ‘yes’. I thought I’d have to argue my way into his heart.
Huh. Still some work to do on my self-esteem, but okay... Things were getting better.
“Didn’t you notice our dynamic had changed all on its own?” he asked gently.
“Of course but…I worried it was all one-sided.”
“Definitely not.” He kissed my knuckles and sighed in relief. “I’m glad we’re talking about it out loud. I didn’t want to bring it up while I was staying here in case it rocked the boat.”
I snickered. “I was worried I’d knock over the apple cart.”
“Glad our boats and apple carts are still upright.”
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and I leaned into his touch, loving how his fingers grazed my cheekbones.
“Wait, I want to do this right.” Ry held my cheek and stared deep into me with his bright blue eyes. “Braxton. You make my life. Will you be my boyfriend?”
I let out a high-pitched noise of excitement and bit down on my bottom lip so hard I almost drew blood. My hands flapped all on their own until I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, hard. He laughed into my mouth.
“Yes. Oh, but wait, can I just… A question.” I chewed on the side of my thumb and looked him over as a bubble of paranoia surfaced.
“Anything.” He spread one hand like he was an open book.
I took a deep breath, channeled my inner Howie