Page 86 of Always Mine

And when I hear those words off his lips, I realize exactly why it hit him so hard when I told him that first. Words that are so simple, thrown around so easily by people every day like they don’t mean much, are literally my redemption.

“Thank you for giving me another chance. I won’t take it for granted.”

“Thanks for coming back,” he mumbles, making me sore higher, if that’s possible. “I want to show you something.”

I cock a brow, swiping my face with my sleeve. Feeling so much lighter than I was hours ago. “What?”

He lowers the zipper of his jacket a bit, reaching beneath the collar of his flannel and pulling up a necklace. No. Not just any necklace.Thenecklace. The one I gave him all those years ago. My breath catches again, and I reach my shaking hand out to touch it, not able to believe it's real.

“Wy.” My voice cracks,allthe emotions rushing me again. He’s turning me into a wreck. My voice doesn’t sound like mine. I’m in awe over this. After the tattoo, I thought for sure he'd have gotten rid of this too. “I can't believe you kept it.”

He shakes his head, he tucks it back away. “I couldn’t get rid of it, no matter how badly I wanted to. It was my last piece of you. Not that I ever messed with it. Shoved in a box and hid it away, but knowing it was there if I ever wanted to look at it gave me comfort.”

And I thought this moment couldn’t be more perfect. “I love you.”

He laughs, the sound like music to my ears. “As you keep saying.”

“And I'll never stop now.” I kiss him, pushing him onto his back. “You're mine, Wyatt Clayton, forever.”

“I like the sound of that.”

The rest of our time together is spent exactly as it should have been three years ago. We hung out with our families, we saw our friends, we laughed, we made love, and we did it alltogether.

Sure, with every single day that passed, we were sad, knowing the inevitable was sneaking up on us. However, it was that which made us so much stronger. We didn’t let it break us.

Two weeks later, when I board the plane back to Cali, my head and heart have never been more settled.

I love Wyatt Clayton, and he loves me, and that’s the only thing that’s ever mattered.

I got my guy back.

EPILOGUE

Wyatt - Three Months Later

I knew I missed him, but I misjudged just how much.

The second he opened his apartment door, I was on him instantly. I practically tackled him, throwing my bag wherever. I pushed him back through the entryway, dragging him onto the couch. Honestly, it’s lucky I remembered to kick the door shut, or anyone who walked by would be privy to what we’re doing.

Which is me on his lap, grinding down on top of him. My flannel is open and so are my pants, but we haven’t shredded everything yet because I refuse to tear my lips away from his long enough to make that happen. Guess we’re going to get off with our clothes on.

“Wy.” His tone is husky, but I can feel that smirk of his against my mouth.

I pull back, pressing my hand to his mouth, shaking my head. “No talking.” I take the brief pause from kissing to tug off his shirt and almost moan at how perfect his body is. I drag my fingers up the split of his abs slowly, loving the way his breaths become sharper under my touch. “Feel good?” I tease, bending down to lick a stripe up the center of his chest.

“Fuck,” he hisses, hands tightening on my hips. “You know it does.”

I smirk, placing sloppy kisses across his chest, paying special attention to the tattoo above his heart. “I could kiss you forever,” I murmur, loving the way his skin breaks out in goosebumps below my lips.

“You won’t hear me complaining.”

I mark his skin with my lips, sucking marks across his tattoo and chest as I work my way up to his neck. More importantly, the necklace that’s hanging from his neck. “I love that you still wear this,” I whisper, running my fingertips across the W.

“Everyday.”

“I’m glad. Everyone needs to know you’re mine.”

He smirks, his heated eyes turning prideful. “I love it when you’re possessive.”

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