Page 164 of It's Always Us

I raise my chin to look at him, searching his eyes. “Really?”

One side of his mouth tugs up. “Yes. Really. Now, it’ll be all of my girls, and I’m going to be skipping into that room no matter how the game turns out.”

He slides his arms under the girls and stands to place them in their portable crib that’s wedged in between the wall and our bed. He leans over, keeping them tucked into his chest as he lowers them. He wraps each tightly like two little burritos in the sleep sacks that I’ve learned really are as fantastic as they’re described.

Once he kisses and lingers over them a few moments longer, he stretches his shoulder and climbs in bed, not taking a second before eliminating any space between us. His face is so close to mine that our noses touch.

“I don’t want to sleep alone tomorrow night. I don’t like it when I can’t feel you near.”

I slide my arms around him, holding him close, already missing him. He pushes the hair out of my face, letting it fall between his fingers and keeping my face close. His lips brush against mine.

If my incision were healed, I’d throw one leg over him, but I can’t yet.

“You know that night I came back here and found you in the garage?” His voice is so soft it’s almost a whisper.

“You mean after Grandpa called you?”

He pulls away just a little. “He told you?”

“Uh, yeah. After the car accident. I didn’t know you’d been calling.”

“I didn’t want you to know. I just needed to know you were . . . ok . . . happy.”

“I came home that night, pulled on your shirt, and cried, missing you so much.” The admission is freeing, like it’s releasing those years of suffering and sadness to make room for all the joy and happiness since and yet to come.

“Shit, Lex,” he breathes out, his forehead pressing against mine. “I drove around, then sat outside the shop until you left and followed you home.”

I pull away. “You did?”

“I had to know if you came home or . . . ” He brings my hand to his chest. “I slept in my car until the morning when I had to catch my flight.If I’d known, I would have climbed in this window and stolen you away from here. I would’ve done that over and over and over again.”

I sniff because, apparently, birthing babies doesn’t rid you of all the hormones. You just become more of a mushball.

“I wouldn’t have gone with you.” A tear rolls down my cheek, soaked up by my pillow. “I couldn’t believe that you’d come back and that you really meant everything you said. I couldn’t believe you still loved me after . . . ”

His warm hand slides in the back of my T-shirt and up my spine. “I needed you. I wanted to know that you’d be mine forever.”

I stare at his perfect face. It’s my turn to push the strands of hair off his forehead. “I was,” I whisper. “Even then. I’ve always been yours. There was just a sliver of time where we couldn’t be together.”

“It was like trying to live without my lungs. I hated every single tortuous second of it.”

I smile. “We don’t have to do that anymore. Me in your old T-shirt and hating each day. It’s over. It’s us now.”

“Damn straight it is. It’s always been. And we made Ellie and Peyton.” His devilish smirk presses into my cheek. “Baby, we did that.”

“We?” My grin finds his. “How about we finally find out what it’s like to actuallybetogether?”

He’s careful as he slides his leg between mine. “I think it’s about damn time.”

Epilogue

LEX

Three Months Later

I stand just behind the white rope, rolling the stroller back and forth, and searching the field for number four. The tall, dark-haired one that can make my heart race with that sly, sexy smirk.

“Hey, I see him,” Bree points as she jumps, spotting Mark.

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