Page 125 of Desperate Actions

My stomach clenches, my nerves firing off in every direction. It’s not like I haven’t met them before. I have. Plenty of times.

But I wasn’tmarriedto their brother then.

Now, I wonder if maybe they’re mad.

If they feel like I took something from them. If they think I don’t deserve him.

If they—but that thought dies as suddenly as it came because, before I can spiral, before I can evenbreathe, the room erupts with squeals and hugs, laughter and congratulations.

No awkwardness.

Just acceptance and pure, genuine joy.

Merida grips my hands. “Iknewyou two would end up together.”

“Oh, my God, I’m sohappyfor you!” Julia adds, practically bouncing as she squeezes me in a hug.

“We’ve been waiting for Sammy to do something about his ridiculous obsession with you for years,” Elena laughs.

I freeze, her words echoing in my head, rattling around like a live wire with nowhere to land.

We’ve been waiting for Sammy to do something about his ridiculous obsession for years.

Years.

Not days. Not weeks. Not months.

Years.

Something shifts inside me, tilts my entire world off its axis.

All that time, I thought I’d been pining for him alone. Thought my crush had been one-sided, that I was nothing more than some dumb kid, the little sister’s friend that Sammy—strong, untouchable, and so far out of my league—would never see as anything more.

But I was wrong.

He wanted me.

Just as long as I’ve wanted him.

And that realization totally wrecks me.

Pride.

Pleasure.

Possession.

The three Ps slam into me like a freight train, a heady mix of emotions I can’t untangle even if I tried.

Because this thing between us was always meant to be.

And now that I know?

Now that I really know?

I don’t think I’ll ever recover. And more, I don’t want to.

Just like that, the anxiety melts away, replaced by something warm and unexpected.

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