unless I can live them with you.”
He flips the lid on the box, and the sparkling contents almost blind me.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. I will do whatever it takes to convince you to spend your life with me.
“I’ll trade you. The old ring for a new one.”
It’s gorgeous, reflecting every bit of light in this space, shining every emotion in his eyes back at me.
“No.”
Tyler’s face tightens in alarm. “No what?”
I rush on. “No, I won’t give you the old ring back. Because our past is part of us.
“But you’re my best friend. The only boy I ever loved. The person who challenges me, who‘s there for me, who makes me feel like I am everything I ever need to be. So I guess I could marry you.”
Tyler’s face is so full of fierceness I could explode.
He slips the ring onto my finger, and it feels like forever.
Then he rises, grabbing me again in a kiss that’s hot enough I might melt onto this stage.
“Jewelry whore!”
I reluctantly tear my lips from Tyler’s and cut a look toward Elle in the audience.
“You trying to steal my roomie, Adams?” she calls.
“It’s done.” I love the satisfaction in his tone, the possessiveness.
“I love you so damned much.”
My blood heats. “I love you too.”
Something lands on the stage, and I realize it’s a sock.
“For your bedroom door,” Elle tosses as she turns back up the aisle with a wave.
Tyler’s grin is delicious. “Tell me we’re done here.”
I meet Miranda’s gaze. “I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to.”
“Agreed,” my mentor says. “Annie, we’ll talk tomorrow. Congratulations, Mr. Adams. And I don’t mean about the role.” She smiles and turns to head out.
I don’t get to see her leave because Tyler’s yanking me against him.
“Come here,” he murmurs against my lips.
Then he’s kissing me, and my brows shoot up my face.
But I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back with everything in me.
I’m here on a damned New York stage, and all I care about is the man holding me, the one who’s always held me up, always made me feel like enough.
Like we’re enough.
And despite how far we’ve come, something tells me we’re only getting started.
22
I wake up in the morning, and the bed smells like Tyler.
I roll over to find him gone, but there’s a sticky note on the pillow.
Morning, Six.
I grin as I shift out of bed, tugging down the hem of my T-shirt and stepping around the overnight bag he brought. I head out to the living room.
“This for me?” I hold up the sticky note.
Tyler turns from where he’s standing at the counter, the smell of coffee wafting through our place. “Mhmm. How’d I know you’d have the ingredients for Rice Krispies squares?”
“It’s a bribe, isn’t it?” I shift in front of him, winding my arms around his neck. “So I don’t tell my dad I woke up in your bed.” I cock my head. “Okay, technically my bed. But still.”
His hands slide down my sides, making every part of me wake up under his touch even before he presses his lips to my jaw. “You’re going to wake up in my bed every day, always.”
He hitches me up on the counter and kisses me, taking his time. I press myself against him, threading my hands into his hair. He tugs me closer to the edge, my panties the only thing between us.
And they’re getting damp fast.
“Elle could walk in,” I protest half-heartedly.
“Elle’s out for the day,” Tyler mutters between kisses. “And we have to make up for lost time. I’m going to have you on every surface of this apartment.”
Holy.
His fingers trace a path up the inside of my thigh, and I hiccup a breath when they slip under my panties and tease me.
“Oh.”
“Oh what?”
“Ohhh, I’ve missed that.”
He chuckles before pressing two fingers inside me. My nails dig into his shoulders as my body contracts around him.
“You’re so wet. Think I’m going to slide right in.”
“Do it,” I mumble.
Tyler works off his jeans, no boxer briefs underneath. He’s already impressively hard, his abs flexing as if it takes all of him not to impale me right now. He pulls me to the edge of the counter, brushing his tip against my needy skin.
I kiss him with love, with need, with the desperation that never seems to be far away when it comes to us… but with a kind of comfort that’s new.
We have nothing but time.
Tyler eases into me as