Page 93 of Broken Halo

“I just…” I trail off because I don’t know how to describe it. “I didn’t tell you to make you feel worse. I just need you to know. We might’ve been torn apart but it’s always been you.”

He shakes his head and presses into me where, I swear, his cock is fully erect and hard again. “Love you, baby. With every-fucking-thing that I am.”

I’m not sure my broken heart will ever be put back together the way it was when I first fell into deep, lusty young love with Easton—Trigger—Barrett, but today it was mended. And if it never looks the same as it did back then, I’m okay with that.

Because, today, I’m deeper and more crazy in love than ever.

* * *

Trig

“I had no idea your mom was this much of a pack rat. Are you that way, too?”

I look back at the woman I’m having unprotected sex with, a fact I’m completely happy about. “No, I’m not. Besides a closet full of suits, my work-out equipment, and my bed, I don’t need much else. I work and workout and then work more.”

We’re back at my mom’s, Griffin is in bed for the night, and we’re tackling the storage room again. After my first experience with diapers this afternoon, Ellie said she didn’t want me to have nightmares, so she got him ready for bed and down in about two-point-seven-five seconds compared to me. I need to work on that, especially considering the unprotected sex because I have no desire to go back to condoms. Ever.

Ellie turns to the walk-in closet she’s dug to the back of, but that’s not saying much because the closet might be almost empty, but now we can barely walk through the room thanks to my mom’s shit.

“When will it go on the market?” she asks. I stop stacking boxes and turn to her, crossing my arms. When I don’t say anything, she appears at the doorway. “What?”

“I’m not putting the house on the market. I cancelled the contract with the realtor a few days ago.”

She leans on the doorjamb and mirrors my posture but also hikes one leg and rests the bottom of her foot high on the inside of her other thigh, standing there at ease like she’s floating on a cloud.

I frown. “Is that comfortable?”

She looks down at her body and then back to me. “Yes, why?”

“Because it doesn’t look comfortable.”

“Then don’t stand like this.” She rolls her eyes. “Why aren’t you selling?”

I look around the room. “You think it’s too small?”

She tips her head. “What are you talking about?”

“The lot is big enough. We can add another garage and build up if we need to, even a pool someday. Maybe add a small guesthouse, I can make it a gym. But I was also thinking, you’ve still got extra room upstairs at your studio. We could add a gym there and then Eli and his guys could use it, too. I just know I hate your house and my condo is three-stories and only has two bedrooms—it’s not good for Griffin with all the stairs.”

She drops her foot to the floor, hugs herself tighter, and whispers, “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I don’t give a shit what we can afford. I don’t want a fucking mansion or a two-thousand-acre ranch. My condo is too small but I don’t want a house so big we’ll ramble around and never see each other. I’ve spent too many years away from you. If we’re not in the same room, I want to know you’re near or listen to you chattering away with Griffin. He seems to be comfortable here. There’s room for more and they’ll grow up close.”

She doesn’t take her eyes off mine. “I love it here.”

“So do I.”

“And I love that we have memories of your mom here.”

“I agree.”

“There’s room for more?”

I narrow my eyes. “Fucked you this afternoon with nothing between us and you didn’t complain.”

She shakes her head. “No, I didn’t. I guess we’re on the fast track, huh?”

“Aren’t we always?”

---