Page 18 of Sturdy & Dirty

I’d let her. I already had.

“Thank you,” she whispered into my chest. “Thank you for being everything I knew you’d be.”

Shit. My throat was closing up with the emotions suddenly flooding me.

“I…”

Could I tell her? Already? Was it too soon?

My thumb stroked absently along her temple and she relaxed. I did that. I eased her. Just like I’d made her bloom when she needed to be strong for herself.

I was good for her.

No, more than that.

In that moment, for the first time, I believed… I was good enough to be hers.

“I adore you, Holly James.” I whispered the truth in her ear. “Whether you know it or not, after tonight, I plan on keeping you.”

Now that I’d admitted it to her—and most importantly, to myself—all there was left to do was make it happen. Brick by brick, piece by piece, build our future together.

And as luck would have it, I was very good at building things.

Chapter Seven

Holly

I plan on keeping you.

Austin’s words played over and over again in my head as we walked hand-in-hand down the pier. It was busy with people, but I didn’t mind. It allowed me a chance to think on all the things we’d learned about each other at the restaurant.

After the run-in with Rex, I’d filled him in on our past. And even though I’d only ever talked about it to Ivy, I found it easy to trust Austin with the ugly details. I’d even confessed the parts that had clung to me over the years. The deep seated doubts that Rex planted. And… how even a short time with Austin had chased some of them away.

He’d stolen my breath when he promised to annihilate whatever was left.

I plan on keeping you.

Did he mean it?

As we ate—eggplant parmesan, of course—he’d told me about being raised by his grandparents. Anecdotes of a rigid but caring upbringing, generational clashes in his teen years, and most of all, their unconditional love. He didn’t shy away from the emotion those memories brought, and it made me grateful he’d known that kind of life.

Two wonderful people cared about him so fully that it became part of who he was. Did they even know what a gift they’d passed on?

I did. And I planned to appreciate the hell out of it.

“Where are we going?” I asked when he led us past the crowds to the dock area. “I thought we’d be stargazing tonight.” I’d surmised that was what the star emoji meant from our little game.

“Oh, we are, pretty girl.” His voice was deep and soft. It hit me like a purr… or made me want to at least.

Did he know when he talked like that, it made me want to do some very physical things?

He said that eggplant emoji was a slip of the thumb, but I was hoping it was a Freudian slip instead.

“And we were going to take it all in from the pier,” he continued, stopping in front of a large, sleek boat. “But I think we’d both like it better if we were alone instead of surrounded by people.”

I grinned. “Is this your boat?”

“No, it’s borrowed. But if we like it, I’ll buy one.”

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