Piece by Piece (The Riggins Brothers #2) - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,38

behind her neck, holding her lips to mine as I trace them with my tongue. She opens for me, and my tongue moves against hers. I kiss her until we’re both starving for breath. Only then do I pull away.

“I want you to be mine, Layla.” She opens her mouth, but I stop her. “Before you say I don’t own you, I know that. I don’t want to control you, but I want you in my life. I want you to be the one I call after I’ve had a shitty day and the first one I celebrate with when I’ve had a good one.”

“That’s what girlfriends are for, Owen.” She sighs.

“Beautiful, Layla.” I lean in and kiss her cheek, my lips trailing to her ear. “Will you be my girlfriend?” I whisper—five words I’ve never said in the same sequence before in my life. My heart is pounding as I wait for her to answer me.

“Owen,” she breathes.

“Only you, Layla. I want you here with me. I don’t want you to go to Sawyer’s apartment. I want you to live here with me. I want you in my bed every night.”

“H-How can you say that? Are you doing this for sex? Because I’m warning you, I might be bad at it.”

I might be bad at it. Her words repeat over and over in my mind. Does that mean? No, she can’t be. Can she?

“Oh, God.” She covers her face with her hands, and the action snaps me into motion. She moves to slide off the bed, but I’m able to sit up and pull her into my lap before she gets too far.

“Layla, what do you mean you might be bad at it?”

“Do you not understand the English language?”

“Baby, are you a virgin?” The words feel like grit. I can’t believe I just asked her that question. She’s fucking gorgeous, with a body that would bring any man to his knees. How is she a virgin?

“My life growing up was rough. I didn’t want to end up like my mother, and I knew I needed to get out of that house, out of that town. So it was better for me to abstain. Once I made it to Florida, I was barely keeping a roof over my head and food on the table. No way could I take care of a child too.”

“Yet, you fed the homeless men, who looked like a group of thugs that sat outside on the stoop of your building.”

She shrugs. “They needed it, and it was like they looked out for me. They scared me at first, but as time went on, they looked out for me. It was nice knowing there was someone around if I needed them.”

“That’s me. I want to be that someone.”

“What is your family going to say? I’ve never met them, and you what? Just want me to move in with you? Come on, Owen. Think about what you’re asking.”

“I have thought about it. I know what I want. You’ve met Royce and Sawyer, and the others will love you just as much as we do. In fact, you get to meet them today at Sunday dinner.”

“Love me?” she croaks.

“My sweet, Layla. My heart is yours. Piece by piece, you’ve stolen it from me, and I never want it back.”

“S-Sunday dinner?” she croaks.

I’m overwhelming her and didn’t want to do that, but that’s just how this conversation happened to turn out. “My parents have Sunday dinner at their place every week. Those who can make it do. Now we’re all living in town, it’s very rare that any of us miss.”

“I can’t meet your family today.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m me.” She slaps her hand against her chest. “They want better for you than me. I know they will.”

“You’re wrong. What they want is for me to be happy. They want me to find someone to live my life with and to give them grandchildren.” I chuckle. It’s as if I can hear my mother now asking when she’s going to get grandkids. Royce is the oldest at thirty-two, and now that he’s with Sawyer, the pressure is on. I have no doubts when she meets my Layla, she’s going to be asking me… us too.

“I don’t know.”

“Come with me today. Meet them. Let them prove to you that your background has no bearing on who you are to me. You can’t help the circumstances of which you were raised. That’s not who you are, that’s who your mother was. You’re