Page 94 of Unravel Me

Recognized that if my first mother hadn’t made the decision to not raise me, if my grandma didn’t die, I would have never found my parents and the incredible family who chose to love a kid they had zero obligation to love. Without my family, I likely wouldn’t have been able to follow my dream to be a professional hockey player. Hell, I don’t know if I even would have had the dream at all.

If I hadn’t been drafted to Vancouver and relocated to Canada from Colorado, I would have never found my best friends.

If I didn’t travel for hockey, I might not have come home from a twelve-day road trip to find my girlfriend fucking another man in our bed.

If I hadn’t caught Courtney cheating on me, I would have never forced myself to leave.

If I hadn’t forced myself to leave, I wouldn’t have been on that trail through Mount Fromme nearly two months ago.

If I hadn’t been on that trail, I wouldn’t have found the very best and brightest thing in my world.

I think about fate a lot. I think about all the shit things I’ve had to overcome to get to where I am now, the happiest I can remember ever being, with a sweet little beauty tucked into my side, her flushed cheek resting on my shoulder, soft hand splayed over my stomach. I wouldn’t have these freckles, delicious flecks of honey sprinkled over sun-kissed skin. Not this nose that crinkles in the sweetest way when she’s trying not to smile, these wide, plush hips that demand my eyes follow them everywhere they go, this brilliant smile that manages to turn my whole day around and give me hope for a future I’d given up on.

I’ve learned not to ask why, but I find myself always wondering how. How the hell did I find myself here? How did I get so damn lucky? How did I find her, and how do I make sure I get to keep her?

Thick lashes flutter, and sleepy moss eyes blink up at me. A shy smile tugs up one side of her mouth first before giving way to a brilliant explosion that this perfect girl tries to hide by burying her face in my chest.

“Why are you staring at me?” Rosie mumbles against me.

“Why are you hiding from me?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

She lifts her face, hair a wonderful mess, playful gaze narrowed. “You’re annoying.”

Chuckling, I roll her onto her back and sprawl out on top of her, holding her wrists above her head. “I don’t know how I found you, but I don’t want to waste my time wondering. I can’t believe I just stumbled on you on a normal day, that you walked into my life and didn’t turn around and walk right back out. I don’t want to know how or why I got so lucky; I just want to accept that I did and never question it.

“I don’t want to waste my time asking pointless questions, imagining a life where you’re anywhere other than right next to me. I want to spend my days giving you the love you’ve always deserved, the kind you’ve dreamed of, and I want to show you how thankful I am for giving it back to me. You’re mine, Rosie, and I’m yours. That’s all I need to know.That’swhy I’m staring at you.”

“Oh.” She tilts her chin, sweeping a breathless kiss across my lips. “Guess that’s okay then.”

“Mmm, you guess? Well, I can’t have you guessing. Need to have you certain.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

I trail my nose down the slope of her neck, then lower, until I can cup her full breast in my hand, twirl my tongue over that taut, dusky bud. My fingertips glide over the dip in her waist, push their way between her luscious thighs, plunging into a pool of heat, wringing a cry from her throat. “By fucking it into you.”

“We only have one condom left.”

Sitting back on my heels, I grab the last sealed wrapper from the pile of torn ones on the table. I lift a brow and sheath my cock as Rosie watches, captivated. “Better make it count then, huh, trouble?”

The name does something to her, makes her come alive with confidence, maybe. Because she gets this wicked gleam in her eyes, trying and failing to bite back her smirk. She climbs to her knees, her palm hitting my chest as she pushes me down to my back and straddles my hips, trapping my cock between her wet pussy and my stomach.

“Look at you,” I murmur. “So sexy when you’re taking control. Are you gonna sit on my cock?”

“I don’t know. Teasing you might be fun.”

“Teasing me?”

“Mhmm…” One hand disappears in her hair, the other braced on my abs as she slowly—so fucking slowly—slides along the length of my cock, right up to the head, and then back, soaking me. “Teasing you.”

“Rosie,” I warn, gripping her hips when she does it again, grinding her to a halt at the tip of my cock. “I’m not always patient.”

“But you’re always kind.”

I push up on my elbow, bringing her mouth to mine with a fistful of her hair. “Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. I’ll put you on your hands and knees, bury myself inside you and fuck you from behind until the only word you remember is my name, and you can feel me even when we’re not together.” I nip her lower lip. “I’m weak for you—so fucking weak—but the bedroom is the last place you’ll see it.”

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