Page 142 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

“Always,” I said softly and I looked over to see Quinn nodding.

“You’re ours, Beck. No matter what,” he said firmly.

Tears flooded Beck’s eyes and he nodded. We stood at the same time he did and met in the middle of the small office, our arms going around each other as naturally as if we’d been doing it our whole lives.

And I knew in that moment that was exactly what was ahead of us.

Our whole lives.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Beck

“Here,” I heard Emma say as she approached me from behind and plopped down next to me on the porch step. I smiled at the sight of the kitten she was handing me. The other kitten was pressed against her chest.

They were the same kittens she’d handed me so long ago the morning after I’d arrived in Dare.

It seemed like a lifetime ago considering how much had changed.

“Wow, they’re big,” I said.

“Yeah, they don’t need to be fed with bottles anymore, but Daddy says we need to handle them a lot so they’re real used to people when they go to their forever home.”

I nodded and cuddled the kitten. “Did you guys find them homes?”

Emma nodded. “Uncle Gray and Uncle Luke are adopting them for Ollie. But don’t tell…it’s a surprise for his birthday.”

“My lips are sealed,” I said softly.

I wasn’t surprised when Ben appeared a moment later and dropped down next to his sister. I laughed when Ben said, “Cars.”

I’d been around the kids enough to know that was Ben’s way of asking his sister to play his favorite game with him. Ben had an obsession with Matchbox cars and his favorite thing to do was release them at the top of the bannister along the stairs leading to the second floor and see how far they got before flying off and hitting the wall or floor.

“Swirl,” Emma said in exasperation. “I played cars with you this morning.”

“Cars,” Ben repeated and then he was pressing his head against his sister’s arm. I knew she stood no chance against the cute little pout that spread across his chubby face.

“Fine,” Emma said dramatically. I chuckled when she handed me the kitten before taking her brother’s hand and stomping back into the house. As I nuzzled the kittens, Harley appeared from wherever she’d been off playing with Jax and Dane’s dogs and began sniffing the furry bundles in my hands.

“Don’t worry, you’re not being replaced,” I murmured and was rewarded with a sloppy kiss across my mouth. I laughed and used my sleeve to wipe away the line of dog drool. The sound of an engine caught my attention and my gut clenched in excitement.

My fathers had texted that they were on their way from the airport almost an hour ago, so they were due at Dane and Jax’s any minute now. But the car that appeared in the driveway turned out to be Jax’s police cruiser. I ignored the nervous flutter in my belly as I watched Jax get out of the car.

“Hey,” Jax said as he began walking up the stairs. “This scene looks familiar,” he said with a chuckle.

It was familiar, but luckily not a complete repeat of that morning when he’d come to my room to take the kittens from me. Back then, I’d been waiting for him to show some sign that would prove he was like all the other guys. Now, I didn’t see that at all. No, I wasn’t cured because there was still a small part of me that got nervous around the larger man, but it wasn’t the same fear that left me feeling sick. I suspected that, over time, my fear of him would disappear altogether, just like it had with the male members of my extended family. And a lot of that had to do with Jax himself, because he’d been earning my trust from day one. Him and Dane both, as well as the other men who were becoming a fixture in my life.

“Your dads on their way?” Jax asked as he dropped down next to me on the step.

“Yeah, they’ll be here any minute.”

“Is this okay?” Jax asked as he glanced between us. I hadn’t told him what I’d admitted to Quinn and Brody during my session, but I had no doubt he’d figured out how uncomfortable he made me. But instead of avoiding me, he was trying to interact with me more often. He never touched me, but he often made sure I was okay if it was just him and me. I hoped there’d come a point where I wanted him to feel free to hug me or pat me on the shoulder, but it was something I wanted to talk to Dr. Emory about first.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s good.”

Jax smiled and then he was petting Harley who’d stepped to his side so she could sniff him. Like me, my dog was making lots of progress in learning to trust again.

“I heard you talked to Dane about vet tech school.”

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