Page 86 of Cold as Stone
“And that made you think of me?”
“No.” I tilt my head to look at him. “It made me think how glad I am that I get to come home to this. To you. To us.”
His expression softens. “Yeah?”
“I’m the luckiest woman alive,” I tell him, meaning every word despite the alcohol still in my system. “I get to love you. I get to be loved by you.”
“Kya—”
“I mean it.” I cup his face, making sure he can see my sincerity. “Tonight was fun. The girls are amazing. But nothing compares to coming home to you.”
He kisses me softly, tenderly, like I’m something precious.
The simple gesture makes my eyes sting with unexpected tears. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Other way around, baby.” He pulls the covers over us, tucking me against his side. “Sleep now. You’re going to have a hell of a hangover tomorrow.”
“I don’t get hangovers,” I mumble, already drifting. “I’m lucky like that.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmm. Got to be wild. Got to come home to you. No hang over. Perfect night.”
His chest rumbles with quiet laughter. “Love you, my wild girl.”
“Love you too,” I whisper, and fall asleep feeling cherished, satisfied, and completely, utterly home.
20
KYA
Three weeks later
The Stoneheart MC clubhouse is alive with music, laughter, and the kind of easy camaraderie that comes from family celebrating together. Someone’s got a guitar out, Cash is holding court at the bar with Mercy. The smell of barbecue drifts in from the back patio where Hawk is manning the grill, while around us kids run through the house, screaming with laughter.
I’m curled up on one of the worn leather couches, Lee’s arm around me, watching it all with a sense of wonder that still catches me off guard. Three months ago, I wasn’t sure I wanted to return to Stoneheart. Now I’m home .
“I called Emma this morning,” Lee says quietly, his fingers tracing patterns on my shoulder.
My heart skips. “You did? What did you tell her?”
“That you’re back in town and we’re together. She screamed so loud I think she damaged my eardrum.”
“Good screaming or bad screaming?”
“The kind of screaming that comes with ‘I fucking knew it!’ and ‘about damn time!’” He chuckles. “She’s planning to come home for Christmas.”
The words make my chest tight with emotion.
“I look forward to it.”
I used to watch Lee from across the room, certain he was untouchable, unreachable. Emma’s gorgeous older brother who could never be mine. And now here I am. Once the girl everyone whispered about, Patty Sullivan’s daughter with no future and fewer options. Now I have Lee’s name on my back, a family that chose me, a business that’s thriving, and a town that’s backed me when it mattered most.
The transformation feels surreal, like I’m living someone else’s life.
I gesture around the room. “Six months ago, if someone had told me I’d be here, at an MC party, blissfully happy… I’d have laughed.”
“And now?”
