My eyebrows shot up.
“I mean not all women, but she’s one of those people, and the poor kids.” Tears filled her eyes again. “I was so angry with her, so angry, I wanted to kill her, Trevor. I’m not a violent person, but I would have ended her life for making them afraid, for letting them down.”
I swiped the tears from her cheeks. “And that’s exactly what makes you such an incredible person, what will make you an amazing mom…”
I kissed her again.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled back, our foreheads touching. “I don’t know how to navigate this. It’s not like they have a rule book for dating rock stars.”
“Did you just feed my ego a rock star compliment?”
“Shut up.”
I pulled her in for another kiss, smiling against her pout. “We take it a day at a time. When they start school, they start school. Think of it this way. They’re going to have after-school activities, practices, plays, macaroni necklaces—and you’ll be there for it all.”
“What makes you so sure?” she whispered.
“Because you stayed when any normal person would have run away, pissed at the world. Because you fought for them before you fought for you. And because when I look up at the stars, you remind me that no matter how secure they may look—they still fall. And sometimes in falling, you find your forever.”
“Are you saying you fell?” She bit down on her bottom lip, a hopeful look in her eyes.
“I fell the first day I saw you. I’m still falling. I don’t ever want to stop. I pray there’s never a day I wake up and realize I’m on the ground—because I want to be in a constant state of falling in love with you.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, I kissed her again.
I wiped her tears and carried her up the stairs.
Past my children’s rooms.
As visions of a life with her danced in my head.
As songs I hadn’t yet written played in perfect cadence.
As the warmth of her body gave me hope.
As I carried her into a bedroom I hoped one day to call ours.
And kissed her deep, hard.
She didn’t protest when I pulled the clothes from her body, leaving nothing behind, as I took in her smooth skin and then pulled her onto the bed and covered my body with hers. “This time, I go slow.”
“Think you’ll last?” she teased.
“That’s it.” I reached for a pillow but she’d already flipped me onto my back. I let her, obviously, and grinned up at her. “What are you going to do?”
“Kiss you.” She leaned down, touching our lips together. “Everywhere I want.”
“No complaints here.” I watched her devour me with her eyes, and then felt her do the same with her mouth. She gripped me, and I slapped her hand away because I wanted more than that. “Together, I want us together, I want to watch us together.”
I pulled her onto me, my hands on her hips. She slid over me and let out a large gasp while she moved in perfect rhythm.
A rhythm I didn’t realize had been in my heart for years.
A rhythm that promised forever.
That felt so right I couldn’t breathe.
“Tell me I get to keep you.” We locked eyes.
She quickened her pace, I caught her hips rocking her faster, needing to feel the realness between us. “On one condition….”
“What’s that?”
“You make Drew sign a poster.”
“You’ll pay for that.” I couldn’t even pretend to be mad, she felt too damn good. “But later, much later. Right now, I just want you, and us.”
“Us,” she agreed.
And I followed her over the cliff with a smile on my face.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Penelope
6 Months Later
“He’s too sexy, his sweat is sexy, I both hate and love this,” I murmured as I stood backstage watching all the girls scream Trevor’s name as he walked around shirtless with low slung jeans and paint all over his six pack.
Was that paint edible?
Would it be weird to ask if he could bring it home?
Will’s wife Angelica elbowed me and then burst out laughing. “It’s hard some days. Just remember who gets him at night.”
“Preach.” Alyssa, Demetri’s wife, currently pregnant with triplets, did an awkward little jig and then elbowed Nat, who was currently salivating over her own husband, Alec.
Jaymeson held up his phone. “Smile, ladies.”
We all grinned.
He took the picture, then dropped his hand. “The concert’s going over.”
“They sold out all six shows,” I pointed out. “They just want to give them their money’s worth.”
Zane, or Saint as he was known, ran out to the middle of the stage and fell to his knees as Alec and Demetri took the mic, and then the rest of Adrenaline joined in.
Zane, Adrenaline, and AD2. They’d added more tour stops after last year’s Grammys.
And now I knew why.
I’d seen their shows on TV.
Never in person.
It was almost addicting the way they all performed, but I had eyes for my man and my man only.
The song ended, and Trevor threw his sticks into the crowd. They all went wild, and the guys ran off stage.
I was pulled into the biggest, messiest hug ever and that was saying a lot since I was living with three children and a guy who constantly had some sort of food substance on his person.
“Hey”—Trevor grinned down at me—“I have a surprise for you.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
I looked behind him. Malcom, Eric, and Bella were all on stage. The twins had tuxes on, and Bella was in a gorgeous white dress.
“What’s going on?”
“Something very important.” Trevor put on a shirt and pulled me onto the stage, the crowd erupting with screams and shrieks.
I almost puked.
He grabbed a microphone. “Bella, Eric, Malcom, will you help Dad?”
He held out the microphone to Eric. “Will.”
Malcom followed and giggled. “You.”
“Marry,” Bella screamed.
And then Trevor dropped to one knee and rasped, “Us?”
I lost it.
And I hugged the kids first.
Much to the amusement of probably everyone in the stadium.
And then Trevor laughed in the microphone. “You’d think she’s more excited about the package deal than the actual deal!”
Everyone joined in laughing.
And then I grabbed the microphone and said, “Yes. I say yes to us.”
“So you’re staying?”
“Forever,” I said through sloppy tears as tiny arms wrapped around my waist and held on tight.
That was when I noticed that there was no black shirt hanging off Bella or even being held by someone off stage.
No, tonight, she had her security.
Us.
Music started, and Trevor grabbed a microphone.
The crowd held up their cell phones while AD2 returned to the stage with the rest of Adrenaline.
“Let me tell you a story, one that’s hard to tell. You think we’ve got it made, you don’t see how the lights fade, and then there’s nothing, no story, no forever, until you realize that what you thought was true was false, what’s false is true.” He beamed at me, while the kids held my hands, and we swayed to the music moving to the side of the stage. It was a new song, one I hadn’t heard before Trevor was singing, not just singing, nailing it. “Let me tell you a story, one that’s hard to tell. I met the perfect girl, and then I really fell. But I hit the ground running, didn’t look behind, didn’t realize forever was never on her mind. The truth is sometimes hard to see, but it has never been so clear, until I met a dream. She told me we were worth it, despite the baggage made, and when I kissed her soft lips, I knew I’d been changed inside. Because all…stars…fall.” The
chorus slowed. Tears ran down my cheeks. “All. Stars. Fall. The biggest truth of my life, one that’s hard and true, is that all the stars fell and led me back to you.”
The crowd went wild.
I couldn’t see the stage.
But I felt his words.
And the small hands around me.
I felt his love.
And my fresh start.
In an Us.
* * * *
Also from 1001 Dark Nights and Rachel Van Dyken, discover Abandon and Envy.
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She left us.
Three more words that make it that much worse.
Three being another word I can't seem to wrap my mind around.
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