Page 268 of Hooking Up

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Mom, Dad, and Bree shoot me the same look.Are you going to leave her alone with that?

They adore Iris. After everything with Bree, I thought Mom would freak about Iris's past, but she didn't. She only loves her more for it. She's always going on about how proud of Iris she is. About how lucky I am to have such a strong girlfriend.

And, yeah, about how lucky I’d be if Iris was my wife.

I agree.

And I will marry her. One day.

But this, just being with her, is amazing. I want more—I always want more of her—but I can wait until she's ready.

"Thanks for dinner." I push myself up. "I love you."

Everyone says it back.

I move into the kitchen, through the sliding glass door, to the backyard.

Iris is sitting on the edge of the pool, shoes next to her, feet in the water. She turns toward me. Wipes a tear from her eyes.

Fuck. It's bad.

I move closer. "You want me here or you want to be alone?"

She looks up at me. "No. Walker. It's… It's okay."

"Yeah?" I drop to my knees next to her.

She nods as she shows off the display.

Lily: Happy Thanksgiving to you too. See you at Christmas?

Every bit of tension in my body melts. I forget about what I'm doing after this. I forget about every awful thing that's ever happened.

"She forgives me." A tear rolls down her cheek. "Well. Maybe not yet. But enough to talk to me."

I wrap my arms around her.

She leans into my touch. "I never thought she'd forgive me."

"I know."

"I never thought you'd forgive me."

"Me either."

"But you did." She presses her forehead to mine. "And you… You're here."

"Always."

Her fingers dig into my t-shirt, pressing the cotton into my skin. "You promise?"

"Yeah."

"What if I start using again?"

"You won't."

"But what if I do?"

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