Page 55 of Guarded Love

“Of course I do,” he admitted with a faint grin. “I’m sorry. I need to let you live your life, and I need to trust my friend. It’s time for me to step back and let you bloom.”

“You mean it?” she asked, hope filling the three words.

“I mean it.” He turned away from her, and his eyes met mine. The blazing anger was gone, and now something like understanding replaced it.

“You gave me a lot to think about,” he admitted with a shrug. “Thanks. Only a true friend would throw my bullshit in my face like that.”

“Anytime.” I was glad to shake his hand but even happier to open my arms and welcome Evelyn into them. A single word flashed at the forefront of my mind once her body fit against mine.Yes. I could breathe. I could exist. She was back where she belonged, and I was never letting go.

“I do love you.” She squeezed tighter while whispering in my ear. “So much.”

“And you are the woman who owns me, mind, body, and soul.” My heart threatened to burst from my chest when I finally had the joy of kissing her again. There was a party going on all around us, but just then? We were the only two people in the world, and a fire blazed to life the moment our mouths met.

“Okay, okay.” Barrett couldn’t leave well enough alone, waving his hands around while the girls giggled. “I’m fine with you being together, but you don’t have to eat each other’s faces in front of me.”

“Then turn around,” Evelyn suggested before pulling me down for another deep, scorching kiss. It didn’t seem to matter that we were surrounded by strangers who knew way too much about our personal lives. We had a lost week to make up for, and neither of us was in the mood to wait.

“Damn!” Ari burst out laughing, clapping his hands. “She told you!”

I came up for air in time to see Lourde laugh and pat Barrett’s shoulder like she was trying to comfort him. “It’s okay. Just think, Eve will use that sassiness to keep him in line. That will be fun to watch.”

“It will,” Barrett agreed before a wicked grin replaced his hangdog expression. “Oh, yeah. I think this could be a lot of fun now that you put it that way.”

“Careful.” Evelyn looked up at me, winking. “Get him any more excited, and he’ll start counting down the days before he walks me down the aisle.”

The old me would have recoiled from the idea.

The old me would have taken a nosedive into a bottle at the hint of tying myself down again.

Taking a chance. Trusting.

Now? “Would that be so bad?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and reveling in the way her mouth fell open.

“Come on!” Olivia clapped frantically and smiled from ear to ear. “This is supposed to be a party, right? Let’s party!”

I was a fan of the idea as long as I could hold onto Evelyn all night and never let go.

EPILOGUE - EVELYN

Three months later

“No way.” I rubbed my eyes with both fists as if that would do anything to change the results of the test in front of me on the marble counter. The two pink lines were as dark and clear as before once I lowered my hands.

I was pregnant.

My head snapped up so I could stare open-mouthed at my reflection in the mirror over the sink. I was going to have a baby. A disbelieving giggle bubbled out of me before I could help it.

Me. Having a baby with Magnus. I had barely gotten used to the idea of us being together, no matter how right it felt. There was still a lot of baggage for me to get rid of now that my leg was working exactly as it should. I had consulted with a plastic surgeon to talk about fixing my scars, though I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through with the surgery.

There was a time when my scars marked a shameful period in my life. Decades of feeling less-than, unwanted, unlovable. Long before that bullet had pierced my flesh, I’d already been an outsider thanks to the ugly lessons that had been drilled into my head.

No more. Magnus had helped me see the other side of the coin. I was strong. I had sustained so much and came out in one piece in the end. I was a warrior, according to him. Now, what were once ugly scars were armor. Proof of my strength.

Was I strong enough to tell him about this baby? We hadn’t talked about starting a family, mostly because it had only been a few months since I’d moved from Boston into his apartment. It only made sense, especially since it made us both miserable to be apart for very long. Three months of bliss had led up to this moment, and I had no idea how he would react.

One thing was painfully obvious as I studied my body in the mirror, looking for any signs of pregnancy. I had to tell him soon because there was no hope of keeping this to myself for long. He’d know right away there was something going on.

He was still asleep when I eased the bathroom door open. There was a moment when all I could do was admire his chiseled body, stretched out on the bed with a sheet barely covering his peach of a butt. His face was turned toward me—cheeks covered in scruff, hair tousled, lips parted so he could snore softly.

---