Page 101 of Complete Me
“Camden still going to let you live under the normal arrangement?”
“Yeah, the devil would have to leave the underworld himself to drag me back here full time. I can’t ever leave for good, Sawyer, you know that. But she’ll always be protected. She’ll always come first. Old ladies are valued and worshiped here.”
“And that’s what she’ll be? Your old lady?”
“She’s my everything. Call it whatever you want—old lady, my woman, my wife. They’re just titles. Kinsey is my everything. Period.”
“I get it. I trust you . . . brother. I’m proud of you. For everything you’ve overcome, for never giving up on life, for still having love inside you to give to everyone around you. You’ve saved more of us than you give yourself credit for. Now you’re making my baby sister happier than I think I’ve ever seen her in her entire life. You’re a good man, Reid, and I’m proud to call you family. You deserve her.”
I swallow hard against the knot in my throat and blink away the rogue tear that spills over my lashes.I deserve her.
“You told me to keep going when I wanted to give up, that I needed to wade in the darkness until my light came. She’s my light, Sawyer.”
“I know. Now you’re gonna need to figure out the Sunday thing ’cause my mom is going to expect you at dinner. She’s put up with you missing for a decade now, and that shit is not gonna fly once she finds out about you and Kins.”
I chuckle under my breath ’cause I knowhe’s right. Amy Hayes is not one to be trifled with when it comes to Sunday dinners with her family.
“Yeah. I’ll talk to Cam.”
With all of that put to rest, I take the first shower, letting the water wash the blood off me. I watch as it swirls down the drain, and with it, all the darkness I was holding onto. It’s time to move forward, to forgive myself and finally live. Lena would want me to. I may have disappointed her for the last ten years, but I’m not going to any longer. I’ve been a broken man for too long. All it took was Kinsey putting me back together and giving me a reason to.
Part of me wonders if she knew all along. The day on the side of the road when Sawyer found me and the skies parted, her lost, broken brother, wandering through the storm alone. I almost didn’t go with him. If it weren’t for her sign from above, I never would have ended up in Aspen Ridge.
I wonder if she knew Kinsey would complete me all along.
CHAPTER 28
kinsey
The rumbleof a motorcycle brings both relief and fear in equal measure. Instead of running outside, instead of at least checking the window to make sure it’s Reid, I stand frozen in the living room, my hand on my heart, a knot in my throat. Liam and Hannah left an hour ago, and I’ve been a nervous wreck ever since.
Heavy footsteps climb up the stairs of the deck, leading closer and closer to the front door. My hands start to shake as the doorknob turns and is pushed open, revealing Reid’s giant silhouette against the dead of night behind him.
“You’re home,” I rush out, tears streaming down my face.
“You think I’d leave you so soon after finally getting you?”
Then I’m rushing to him, running across the room and into the arms that bring me so much happiness, I don’t know how I ever survived without feeling it. My legs wrap around his waist, my hands pushing his long hair out of his face. One of his hands holds my ass tightly against him, the other dwarfing my face, angling my head down to capture my lips. His beard is rough against my skin as my mouth opens for him. We kiss likeit’s been a year rather than a day. It’s all-consuming, altering my brain chemistry in the most life-changing way.
“I missed you. Never leave me again,” I demand as I pepper kisses along his face and jaw.
“Fuck, sweetheart, never. Life starts now.”
“Promise me. Promise me, Reid.”
His hand clenches around my face, gripping my chin and forcing inches of space between us. His eyes are narrowed and severe, but so full of heart, like he’s about to deliver a vow, the promise that I begged for.
“I don’t know what the future will bring, Kins, but I do know that I will spend every day of my life working to be good enough for you. I’ll do everything in my power to see you smile, hear your laugh, and make you the happiest woman alive. I will never do anything to intentionally hurt you, and if I fuck up, I’ll bust my ass to make it right. You’re the light of my life, little fighter. You’re stuck with me now.”
My heart combusts, a euphoric feeling of pure bliss floating through me
“Goddamn, I love you, Reid Knight.”
“I fucking love you, Kinsey Hayes.”
Everything becomes frantic in an instant, fire flooding our veins, our hands pulling at each other’s clothes in a desperate attempt to connect.
“I need you inside me.”
