Page 72 of Shot Through the Heart

My touch hovers over his skin and I smile up at him.

“You added Harper?” I ask, even though he pretty much just said that.

Greyson lifts his hand, pushing a stray curl that escaped my bun behind my ear.

“You two are the most important people in my life. It only made sense to have her added.”

He bends down, kissing me sweetly, and I melt into him.

“I love you, Stella. I love our daughter and the life we’re building together. I don’t need a North Star to guide me home because I have the two of you lighting my way back.”

A tear finally falls and I cling to him. A million agreeing thoughts run through my head, but no words form. I kiss him desperately, hoping to put enough emotion into it for him to understand. When I break away to catch my breath, I rest my forehead against his.

He pushes me to lie back down and slowly removes the rest of our clothes. As he kisses every inch of my body, all I can think about is how I feel about him.

For years I thought I only needed Harper. That I would be happy because I had her and that would be enough for me. Having Greyson back shows me just how foolish I was for ever believing that I would be okay without him.

“Move in with us,” I blurt out and Greyson pauses, his lips hovering just above my breasts.

He peers up at me, his head tilting as he watches me closely.

“Say that again?”

Swallowing thickly, I hold his gaze and do as he asks.

“Move in with us. You’re already there most of the time. You have a key.” I start listing off all the reasons why he should so I can prove that I’ve thought this through. “Harper loves having you with us and is always sad when you don’t come back to our place after an away game. Plus, I love you, so?—”

His kiss cuts off my rambling.

“You had me at move in with us.”

His words soothe any worry I had remaining. He kisses me again, and I finally realize how whole I feel.

Greyson is the love of my life. Years apart didn’t change that. I’m finally able to notice that I haven’t been worried about him leaving us in a long time.

Some part of me has always known that Greyson and I were meant to be. We took the long way around, hitting more than our fair share of bumps. But we made it back to each other.

I stare up at the man I love and smile.

Bonus Epilogue

GREYSON

3 YearsLater

“Did you get your homework done?” Stella asks as she puts on a light cardigan over the mouthwatering dress she picked out for tonight.

“Everything but math. Grandpa said he’s gonna help me with it,” Harper answers.

“Thank God,” Stella grumbles and I agree wholeheartedly. I’m always down to help with her homework whenever she asks. However, some of the math questions on the homework they send home for a third grader make me question if I actually went to school.

“We’ve got this. Go before you miss your reservation,” my dad tells us, basically shooing us out the door. After finding out everything my mom did, he was livid. He moved out within the following month and divorced her the next. When he told me he bought a house down here, I almost didn’t know how to react.

My dad wasn’t bad growing up. Unlike my helicopter mother, he gave me all the space in the world. He’s since admitted that he messed up and regrets how much space he let grow between us. The relationship we have now is night and day different from the one I had always known growing up.

Plus, he adores Stella and Harper.

He and Harper have monthly hangout weekends where he’ll pick her up from school and we won’t see our daughter until Sunday night.

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