Page 76 of Close to Falling

“I love you,” she replies. I move her so she is under me and spread her legs with my body.

“How much?” I ask as I push into her. She wiggles beneath me.

“More than there are stars in the sky,” she breathes, as my hand travels down. I slip my fingers inside her, and sweet love moans when I curl them. She grabs my arms and closes her eyes. I kiss her mouth and pull her bottom lip with my teeth. “I want you,” she says.

“Have me then,” I reply as I remove my fingers. She opens her eyes and looks at me. “Have me forever, B.” She doesn’t respond, but I see confusion as it crosses her face. I move off her and reach into the pocket of my sweats. I look over at her. Her face is slightly flushed, her chestnut eyes are narrowed, and her bottom lip is being chewed. “Marry me,” I say softly. I grab her hand and slide the ring onto her finger. She lifts her hand and looks at the ring. Her eyes fill with tears, and I pray those are happy ones.

“Is this for real?” she asks, looking back at me. A small wrinkle is between her eyes, her short hair is pulled halfway up, and she wears my T-shirt. She’s so damn pretty, and I smile.

“It’s for real.”

She grins and looks back at her hand before she throws me off and grabs me, making me fall back onto the mattress. She kisses me hard, and I hear her laugh in her chest before it comes out of her mouth and onto my lips. The taste of B’s laugh should be bottled up and kept forever. She pulls back and smiles.

“Is that a yes?” I ask.

“Yes!” she shrieks. “I’ve wanted to marry you since you held my hand and told me you’d run away with me.”

“That long, huh?” I say, grinning.

“That long,” she confirms, and I move her up and finish what I started, showing her how much I love her and telling her over and over how happy we are going to be. “I’m already happy,” she murmurs.

“I’m going to make sure you stay that way. I promise.” I mean those words more than I’ve ever meant anything. I know she is messed up. I know she has to fight to stay clean, and she does it for me, for Fisher. As long as she is willing to fight, I’ll fight with her. Every minute of every day. She won’t be alone in this as long as I’m alive.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The kid and I are posted up at the kitchen island, chowing down on some cereal. He flips through a skateboarding magazine while I look at wedding gowns on my tablet.

“So, you and River are getting married?” Fisher asks, looking over my shoulder at the dresses.

“Yep,” I say.

“You’re going to wear one of those?”

“Yes, Fisher.”

“Won’t you be hot in all of that?”

“Probably,” I say before I fill my mouth with cereal.

“Was my dad married?”

“No, baby, I don’t think he ever got married.”

“Did you know my mom?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Do I have any family?” he asks. My heart melts as I turn toward him, looking him in his sweet face.

“Fisher, you listen to me. Family doesn’t always have to be blood. Look at Landon, River, and me. Family is sticking by each other no matter what. It’s showing you care even when it’s hard to. I am your family. River is your family, and Landon and Sarah are your family. Don’t you ever forget that, okay?”

“But most kids have grandparents and cousins and stuff.”

“I don’t have any of that. Not everyone is the same, baby. Difference is what makes the world more interesting.”

He looks back at his bowl of cereal and sighs. “I miss my dad so much that sometimes it’s like I have a stomachache.”

“I know how you feel. I lost both of my parents when I was a little younger than you.”

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