Page 118 of Mace

When I shut the door, for the first time in my life, I feel settled in a way I never have. All I’ve ever wanted in my life is a family, a real family. I thought I’d found that with Maggie and her kids, but that was fleeting. My sister will never let me in the way I want to be, and Jack… is Jack. I have Nate and I have Nicky, but Maylie is an unbreakable part of my life. I want her to be my wife, to have my kids, to be my world.

When I head into the living room, which is now a mismatch of her furniture and mine, I see Maylie is standing out on the balcony.

Ivy and Toby must be sorting out their rooms.

For a moment, I watch her, taking the time to study her while she’s unaware. Everything about her calls to me, makes me hot and needy for her. I don’t deserve someone like her, and I don’t know what the fuck she sees in me, but I’m keeping her.

I head through the door, the cool air seeping through my thin shirt as she watches me. “Your brother totally called us out for having sex.”

“I don’t care if the whole world knows. I like fucking my girl.”

She rolls her eyes, but she can’t mask the smile. “You’re so crass.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not a Boy Scout, Maylie.”

Her eyes widen in mock surprise. “You’re not? There was me thinking you were a regular upstanding member of society.”

“Would a Boy Scout tell you that the moment we’re in bed, I’m going to destroy your pussy?”

Her lips part slightly as she sucks in a breath. “How do you make something so dirty sound so good?” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her to my chest as she leans into my embrace. “You changed my life in ways I didn’t even know it needed to be changed. I know it’s early to say this, and I don’t expect you to say it back, but I’m in love with you.”

Fuck, this woman.Sometimes I forget how innocent she was when we first got together. I forget that I’m her first everything.

“I’m in love with you too.”

“I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you,” she admits. “And just so you know, I’m never letting you go.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

MAYLIE

It doesn’t takeus long to settle into a routine in the new place. Every morning, Mace wakes me with the most delicious sex.

After we clean up, he makes breakfast while I get ready for the day.

This morning is a little different than usual, because Ivy has not only finished school and her exams, but she’s also turned eighteen.

As I step into the kitchen, Mace has already got some of the banners up, and I do the rest as he makes her favourite food.

He’s a really good cook, and he seems to like doing it, which is good because I only like baking, and that’s why I spent six hours yesterday making her cake.

“I can’t believe she’s eighteen. I actually managed to get one of my siblings to adulthood without them dying, getting maimed, or anything else horrible.”

He glances up from the frying pan. “You did a good job with both of them.”

Somewhere deep down, I know that is true, but hearing it from him makes my insides swell with happiness.

He takes the pancakes off the heat just as my sister emerges, yawning. Her sleep shorts and top are tight around her stomach, which seems to be growing more every day. I can’t believe how fast her body is changing,

Her smile is radiant as she takes in the decorations. “You didn’t have to do all this,” she says. “You’ve both done so much for me.”

“Of course, we did. You’re only eighteen once.” I pull my sister into the tightest hug I can manage, so grateful to have this moment with her because there was a time when I thought she was lost to me forever. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“Are we having a group hug?” Toby asks a moment before his arms wrap around us both.

Ivy didn’t want a party, but she is going out to dinner with some of her old friends from college tonight. Most of them are heading off to university in September, and although that’s what I’d wanted and wished for my sister, she’s going to take time out to focus on being a mother.

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