Page 82 of Sin Bin

“A man named Twinkle did them for me,” I tell her. “He had so many tattoos that I couldn’t even tell where his mouth was, but he had a voice like anangel.”

It’s her turn to laugh. She claps a hand over her mouth, her shoulders bouncing withmirth.

“Laugh it up,” I say, chuckling along with her. “I’ll love youanyway.”

That stems her laughter, and . . . this is my chance. I swallow past the nerves, running my sweaty hands against my shirt. “Zoe, I’m sorry for what happened. I don’t have . . . ” I hold my hands up. “There isn’t an excuse for what I did. You walked into my life and turned everything upside down. You started as a friend, yes, but you quickly became my best friend. The only person I sought out regularly. The only person that I allowed to catch a glimpse behind my emotional walls. But I still didn’t tell youeverything.”

“Andre—”

I shake my head. I need to get this out, for her, for us. “Not telling you about my past with Hannah is a regret that I had even then. But the thing was, you pushed all the hatred away. Being with you, in whatever capacity, allowed me to justlive. I didn’t want to drag her into our relationship. By the time I learned that Aaron had even existed, I was in too deep with you. I didn’t just want a friendship with you. I wanted more; I alwayswantedmore.”

I take a risk and step close to her. Light slips across her features, and I brave a touch to her cheek. To my surprise, she nuzzles my hand, clasping it and keeping itclose.

“That day that I found out Aaron was my son . . . I needed you. I wanted to lose myself in your warmth. I wanted to lose myself in the feeling of you. You were right, Ididuse you, but I wanted to remember what it felt like to beloved.”

Her breath crashes against my palm. “Andre, it’s okay. We don’thaveto—”

She needs to hear this. If we’re ever going to move forward, together, it needs to be out in the open. “I didn’t look back after that night because I knew you loved me, Zoe. I knew it, just like you told me the other day, and as much as I craved it, I also feared it. The hate was festering and I . . . Fuck, Zo, I knew right then and there that we needed to stop. No contact. You loved me and I was a shell of a man, using you to feel alive again. Thatwasn’tfair.”

Her nod is slight, small, but she surprises me again by pressing a kiss to my palm. “And what of now?” she asks. “What’sdifferentnow?”

Trust Zoe “the Barracuda” Mackenzie to put me on the spot. “The difference now is that I want to live. I want to live for myself, just as much as I want to live for you. I want marriage and kids and an entire life with you. I want it all.” Swallowing, I add, “That is, if you still wantthesame.”

She slips a knuckle under her eye to wipe away a tear, and my gut clenches. “Are youproposing?”

Moment of truth here. “I hadn’t planned on it,” I tell her wryly, “but now it’s out there in the open, and so if youwantto put me out of misery, feel free todoso.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?” I squeeze her hand. “Is that a yes to putting me out of mymiseryor. . . ?”

Her tinkling laughter is like music to my ears. “It’s a yes to everything, Andre.” Feminine fingers clasp my neck and pull me down for a hot kiss that has us panting within seconds. She pulls back. “It’s a yes to loving you. It’s a yes to waking up next to you every day, even when you hog the covers. It’s a yes to your nipple piercings and the way that you like to boss me around.” She taps my chest. “Be glad I find that domineering side ofyousexy.”

“Thank God,” I tease, stealing another kiss from her lips. “We’d be screwedotherwise.”

“Exactly.” Stretching up on her toes, she kisses me again. “I love you, Andre. I loved you a year ago, when you sexed me up in a damn laundry closet and everyone learned that I have a banana-shaped birthmark on my ass. I loved you during all these months, even when I cursed your name and thought of one-hundred and seventy-five ways to tie you up and make you pay. I loved you when you walked into Golden Lights Media, and then later the next night, when you goaded me into telling you that you have abigdick.”

I lean forward, thrusting my hips to her. She releases a moan at the hard line of my cock. “It’s only the truth, Zo. I can’t have you lying like that toyourself.”

She shakes her head, reaches down, and cups me. I swear to God my eyes roll to the back of my head. “You’re right. No morelying.”

“Exactly,” I repeat, mocking her, before I groan at her touch. “Pleasedon’tstop.”

Her hand skates up the length of me. “Ask me again if I’llmarryyou.”

Whatever she wants. “Marryme,Zoe?”

“On onecondition.”

I grasp her hips and yank her close. “Onwhat?”

“On whether you make me dream about sex with youtonight.”

A burst of laughter escapes me. Because damn it if she hasn’t thrown my own words back at me from the beginning of the month when we sat at her dad’s restaurant. “Well, I’d say that it’s game on, then, Mrs. Future Beaumont.” I swoop down low, hook my arm around her legs, and haul her over my shoulder. “Just resign yourself to saying yes. You know you want this hardstick.”

“Andre! So cliché!” she laughs, striking my butt withafist.

“I’m a hockey player, baby. Puns are included with thepackagedeal.”

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