Page 113 of Dirty Devil

The last thing I want to do is have a casual conversation where I’m forced to act like he doesn’t mean everything to me.

If Gloria wants to ogle the football players all night, she can stay here and I can get a rideshare home. It makes no difference to me. I just need to get out of here.

I turn back around and head toward the door, but Foster stops me before I can take a single step, grabbing my hand and holding it longer than necessary. This tiny connection jolts me with electricity, and I hate that a simple touch makes me feel so alive, so connected to him in a way I don’t want to be.

“Please don’t go,” he pleads with me, his voice soft and laced with emotion. “Let me explain.”

With a brief nod, I take a step back, putting some distance between us. “You have five minutes before I leave.”

“I fucked up.” He glances at the ground before he meets my eyes; his brimming with unshed tears.

I force a deep breath as my chest tightens, and all the fucking feelings from the last month wash over me. All the heartbreak and dejection after being tossed away like a piece of trash. A tear trails down my cheek, and he steps forward, wiping it away with his thumb.

“I lied to you, Avery. I made you think all I wanted was sex, when in reality, all I wanted was you.” He closes the distance between us, resting his forehead against mine, his words ghosting over my lips. “The time we spent together was too real. I fell hard, and I fell fast. I didn’t know what to do, so I pushed you away.”

My chin wobbles as more tears fall, and I’m afraid if I open my mouth, the sobs will break free.

His hand brushes down the side of my face, and his fingers curl around the back of my neck. “I thought love would destroy us both, but I did that all on my own. I was afraid to give you my heart because that meant you could destroy it, destroy me. I didn’t realize you already had it.” He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. “I love you, Avery, and I understand if you never want to see me again, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t tell you.”

I open my mouth and there it is; the ugly cry I wanted to avoid. A sob tears from my throat and I choke it down.

His fingers flex on the back of my neck. “This house is mine. Ours.”

“Why?”

“The hero needs to make a grand gesture,” he says quietly. “That’s why it took so long to say this to you. Everything needed to be perfect. It took time to close on the house and get the nursery put together. You and Mason are my family, and I needed to show you that. Words weren’t good enough.”

“I… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I love you, and I just… I just need you to know that. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I don’t know, Foster. You said the worst thing in the world to me, the thing you knew would hurt me the most.”

“I know.”

“How do I know you won’t hurt me again when things get too real for you? I can’t move on with you and then have you telling me to fuck off a month later. I just can’t.”

“Avery.” My name is like a prayer on his lips as he closes his eyes briefly and brushes his lips against mine. It’s the barest touch, and that breaks me more than the tone of his voice. “I can’t make you trust me, but I promise you, I will be there every. Single. Day. I can’t live without you. Please, Avery. Please, come back to me.”

“Foster—”

“Please give me a chance to prove to you how real this is for me. I need you more than I need air to breathe.”

“I’ve been in love with you for months,” I admit, and his grip on my neck tightens as he searches my eyes. “Well before our fake relationship.”

“There was nothing about it that was fake.”

“No, there wasn’t.”

He doesn’t let another second pass before his mouth crashes onto mine in a demanding kiss, and I can practically feel the longing, the burning hunger, in each stroke of his tongue. I wrap my arms around his waist, holding him close.

Foster pulls back and mumbles against my lips. “You don’t have to move in, but I’d love it if you did. I’d love to come home to you, to Mason, every day.” He kisses me again. “I love you so much.”

My heart is close to bursting as my chest swells with emotion. I never thought I’d hear those words tumble from Foster’s mouth. I never thought he’d be the one to buy a house and want to be a part of a family. He went from being the guy who didn’t want a single attachment to being the guy who wants them all.

And he wants me.

Helovesme.

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