Page 77 of Accidentally Forever
“Fuck that.”
Her eyes widened. “Crew.”
“Fuck that. If you had iced him out completely and blocked his number, he still would’ve found a way to you. I was wrong. You are the kindest person I know, and you still held your space. You kept people that you loved safe. This is Travis. As much as I hate the fact, I have to say that. Because I know he’s hurting. But I’m fucking angry with him right now so I’m going to remain angry for a little while longer. Yet I also feel sorry for him. Something is wrong with him. Something that we can’t fix. But hopefully he figures it out. I’m just glad that he’s still alive. Because if he would’ve died…” I let my voice trail off, knowing I didn’t have any good way to finish that sentence.
I didn’t know what I would feel in the future toward Travis. But in those last moments, he had looked so scared, and I was never going to get that out of my mind. I would forever picture the absolute terror in his eyes. So yes, he did some horrible things, and he had a long way to go, but I think he had enough to deal with without my anger in his face.
“He’ll be okay. I have to believe that. But I’m honestly just so happy that you’re going to be okay. I never want to even think about that again, although I know that it’s going to be on constant rotation in my dreams.”
“Same here.” I cupped her face, my thumb sliding over her bottom lip. “I love you. I love you so damn much. And sometimes it’s hard to imagine where we were all those months ago.”
“I can’t believe we tried to hide this. It turns out a few more people than we thought knew what we felt for each other before we did.”
My lips twitched as I continued to study her face. Her face would’ve been the last thing I had seen if I hadn’t made it to the top of the water. And while part of me knew that would’ve been a blessing, not having the years in front of us would’ve been the opposite.
“I wasn’t very good about hiding that it seems.”
“You do growl.”
“I’m going to continue to do so. Just making sure you understand that.”
She smiled then, and it finally reached her eyes. “I would love that as a promise.” And then she leaned forward, brushing her lips against mine. “Now, you have a hundred Montgomerys and adjacent waiting for you. Would you like the sign in sheet now?”
I grinned, leaning back on my pillow as Aria snuggled into my un-bruised side. “I take it my mother is not one of them.”
She stiffened, but I squeezed her shoulders.
“I’m not upset about. She would have made a scene.I have my family here. It just took me a little too long to realize that.”
“That’s good. Because we’re never letting you go.”
“Deal.”
One month later
“Should you really be lifting that?”
I resisted the urge to glare at the woman that I loved as I shifted the airtight container toward Lexington. My best friend took it from my hands and pressed his lips together so he wouldn’t laugh.
“I see that laughter, Lexington Montgomery,” Aria snapped.
“I’m sorry for trying to hide it. But seriously, the container is empty. He’s fine.” Lex shook his head, his shoulders shaking with laughter, before leaving me alone with Aria.
“Baby, I’m okay. It’s been a month. And I’m not lifting anything really.”
“You just tossed Nora on your back as you ran around the backyard and pretended you were her pony.”
“And it didn’t hurt me.” Much. “She’s your niece. And she has had me wrapped around her little finger since she was an infant.”
“That is true,” Aria said with a smile. “Honestly, she’s had all of us wrapped around her finger. I mean, the rest of the cousins as well, but Nora? It’s like she realizes because her dad is my twin, our shared DNA means that I will drop everything for her.”
“I think you would do that even if you weren’t Sebastian’s twin. And that little girl doesn’t take advantage of it. She’s just too damn nice.”
“Seriously. My brother is so lucky.”
She smiled wide and leaned forward, brushing my lips with hers. “You know, kids really scare me. I have never said that out loud before.”
Aria’s eyes widened, before she threw her head back and laughed. “Same. I love being an aunt. And with how many cousins are starting to go in that direction, it’s going to be an endless number of babies for us to be aunts and uncles too. But I’m terrified of children of my own. I hope that’s okay. I mean, we haven’t had this talk though maybe we should at some point.”
