Page 92 of When We Break

I hated that meltdown, but I’m not alone.

Not this time.

When Beck walks into the room to join me, he picks me up, sits in the corner of the couch, and settles me in his lap, and I curl up around him, looping my arms around his neck and pressing myself to him. I sense Riley lie down in his bed next to the couch, and I sigh, truly feeling completely content since the moment The Arsehole put his hand on me.

“So,” Beck says, his fingertips under my shirt, ghosting over my skin deliciously, making me want to purr. “Sex is a higher priority now.”

I smirk against his neck, nuzzling him, breathing him in. “Absolutely, as long as it’s with you.”

“If it’s with someone else, we’re going to have a problem, Irish.” He chuckles and nips at my ear.

“I love you.”

“Say it again,” he whispers, tightening his arms around me.

“I love you, Beckett Blackwell.”

He pulls back and brushes my hair back behind my ear. “I love you too, Irish.”

With a grin, I press my lips to his so gently that it’s barely there until he moves in and deepens the kiss, nudging my mouth open with his tongue.

He’s claiming me with this kiss, the way he’s done before, but there’s no mistaking this feeling of belonging.

Of ownership.

From both of us.

The doorbell rings, and Riley barks, but Beck doesn’t immediately pull away. He rubs his nose over mine and sighs before he sets me on the cushion next to him, then pads over to open the door. Room service rolls in a table topped with a silver tea set. They raise the edges of the table, making it round, and pull hot plates out from under it.

“Would you like me to pour the tea, sir?”

“No, thanks,” Beck says with the shake of his head. “We can handle it.”

He walks the man to the door, tips him, then returns to me.

“I got you some soup in case you wanted something to eat,” he says as I stand. “Along with a grilled cheese sandwich.”

“Are you handling me then, Mr. Blackwell?”

“I’m taking care of my girl,” he replies and presses his lips to my forehead. “What would you like?”

“Tea for now, but keep the warming domes on the others because I’ll probably want them in a bit.”

He nods and makes my tea the way he knows I like it, then he joins me on the couch.

After I take a sip, I set the cup aside, then take his hand in mine and thread our fingers together.

“Was it too soon for declarations of love?” I can’t help asking.

Beck frowns and shakes his head. “Time doesn’t matter. Shit, I knew you were it for me that day that I saw you in the bookstore months ago.”

“What day?” I sit forward, interested to hear about this. “I don’t remember seeing you at the bookshop.”

“You didn’t see me.” He grins and simply pulls me to him again, and I happily sit in his lap. “I was in a hurry, and you were there, reading the back of a book, and you were so fucking gorgeous, it knocked the earth off its axis.”

“When was this?”

“Last winter.”

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