Page 15 of Ronny

I smile at myself in the mirror, touching my lips where he has kissed me multiple times since he’s been back. My lips are swollen.

It’s hard to not be nervous, but I’m thrilled that Ronny is here with me after all of these years. It feels like a dream.

I push the door open to find him lying on the bed with his back against the headboard.

He looks exhausted, so I turn off the light and walk over to him. He takes my hand, helping me get in the bed. “Always the gentleman,” I tease him, and he chuckles.

“One day you will see how much I am a gentleman.”

His words hang in the air at his double meaning. I duck my head and lay lean on his chest, sighing deeply the second I snuggle into him.

The TV isn’t on. “Let’s nap.” He groans, reaching with his free hand for the blanket, and I throw my leg over his.

I have dreamt of this so many times. I yawn and close my eyes.

“Good night,” I whisper, bringing my hand up under my chin, resting it on his hard chest.

3

OLIVIA

Gasping I sit up straight in bed, my body waking up because there is a bright light shining through the window.

“What time is it?” Ronny groans, his hand sliding under the back of my t-shirt to my bare back causing goosebumps to break out across my skin.

I reach over and grab my phone to see it’s seven o’clock in the morning. “We slept the rest of the evening and all night.” My voice is rough, and my arm is wrinkly from lying on it so long. “I have to get into work at nine.” I wanted to take the day off, but I had no one to cover my cases at such short notice.

Beside me, Ronny looks way too amazing for someone who’s just woken up in the morning. I smile at him and rest my head on his shoulder, kind of feeling cold while his body is like a furnace. “I have to admit, this is the first time in as long as I can remember that I never had a single nightmare.”

He cups the back of my neck, tilting my head so that I’m looking up at him. His lips on my forehead, he says, “That makes me happy. You shouldn’t have a single nightmare. Are they bad?”

I shake my head. “No, honestly, I have become immune to them to the point I don’t think twice about them anymore. I only noticed because I didn’t have any last night.

“It’s because you’re here, you make me feel safe. Keeping away the bad even in my sleep.” I’m honest with him, and it causes my stomach to clench waiting to see what he is going to say.

My body is lifted and turned so I’m on my back with Ronny above me, my legs on either side of his body. His hands are braced on my shoulders.

Holy shit.

My hands are trembling, sliding them up his forearm. If he would press himself closer to me, his bottom half, I would feel all of him. It takes all of my effort to not tilt my hips.

“The things I would do to protect you, angel. I would tear anyone apart with my bare hands who dares to harm you.” His eyes darken, and I know he means it.

“I know you would, and I love that you want to protect me. You’ve been my protector since I was fourteen years old.” I smile at that, thinking of how young we both were and even then, I knew.

I run my hands along his biceps, to his strong shoulders. “You’ve always been my Ronny.”

“You’ve always been my Olivia, my angel. I’m sure I drove my parents crazy with how much I talked about you all of those years.” He chuckles. “You had me fucked up from the start.”

I giggle, amazed that he wanted me for so long. “I worked so hard to heal, to not be so broken for you. You deserve to have the best version of me.”

“Darlin’, I deserve you any way I can get you. Even if I never got to feel the touch of your lips on mine, then that would be okay because you’re just perfect.”

Why does he wreck me so?

No matter how many times he tells me that I deserve him, I just can’t bring myself to fully believe it.

I love him with my whole heart.

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