by Piper King
“And you look after my sister.”
“Oh, don’t you worry.” I patted the lump in my pocket. “I’ll do anything to make her happy.”
“I know you will,” Jared took a step down the porch, and his boots moved into my view. “Which is why you’re out here talking to me in the first place.”
“Well, it needed to be done. Take care, Jared.” I turned to go.
“Wait.” Jared’s voice was suddenly as rough as the scabs around my heart. They were healing, but they weren’t all gone. Not yet. Maybe they never would be, not completely. “I’m sorry, Diesel. I know I fucked up bad, and I’m so sorry.”
I pulled the scent of freshly-cut grass in through my lungs, forcing myself to stay calm. “Why’d you do it? I’ve never been able to make sense of it. Was it on purpose? Were you trying to get us all killed?”
“No.” His voice held so much conviction that I had to turn around. All the pain and torment I’d thought I’d felt was nothing compared to what I saw on Jared’s face. Suddenly, I realized, Lucy had been right. What had happened to us that day had broken me, but it had destroyed the man who’d caused it. “I lost my fucking mind. I cracked.”
I nodded. “You did, didn’t you?”
“I know you probably won’t ever be able to forgive me for what I did, but—”
Before I knew what I was doing, I’d reached the porch again. I held out my hand and met his eyes. My life had been turned upside down, but I couldn’t blame Jared anymore. Seeing him now, he’d been torn apart at the seams by the fighting, just like me. It may have been different, but somehow, it was all the same.
“I forgive you,” I said.
Two months ago, I never would have believed I’d say those three words. Forgiveness had been as unbelievable to me as love. But that was before Lucy and Anna had entered my life and had put me back together, piece by piece. The pain had started fading away, and with it, the anger didn’t seem quite so damn important anymore.
Jared’s eyes widened and he grasped his hand in mine, shaking it with such a fervent energy that I knew I’d made the right choice.
And with that, I turned to go, leaving behind the last bitter piece of my past. From now on, I only had the future. And it looked really fucking bright.
38
“Vacation time!” I hopped out of the car and did a little jig after we’d pulled into the drive of our little home on the beach for the next week. I dropped back my head and breathed in the salty scent of the ocean, the sun baking down on my face. In the distance, the rush of waves crashed onto the shore, the soundtrack I’d longed to hear for years.
Diesel was officially my favorite person on the planet. Okay, so my second favorite, after Anna. And okay, so he’d been my second favorite person for a couple of months now, but this? Man had he scored some serious brownie points.
And I couldn’t wait for him to cash in those points later tonight. I had a few ideas on some fun ways to reward him…
Diesel wrapped his strong arms around me and dropped his lips to my ear. “I have a surprise for you.”
I twisted to face him, drinking in the sight of his strong jaw covered in stubble. He was so handsome and so kind. And he was all mine. “This wasn’t the surprise?”
“In a way.” His lips held a mischievous smile and curiosity got the better of me. What else could he have up those sleeves of his? I was dying to find out, but no matter how much I begged, he kept his mouth zipped shut.
So, by the time we’d gotten out of the car, eased Anna into her stroller, and made our way to the front door of our little yellow vacation home, my heartbeat had started to pick up speed. It was unlike him to be so mysterious. When he’d been fixing up the house, he’d always swung me around in his arms with a smile on his face before showing off the newest trick he’d pulled off.
Now though, he was fidgeting, and he said nothing as he pushed open the door. At first it barely moved. A slow creak that was agonizingly slow. But then the ocean breeze caught it in its grasp and swung it wide. With my heart in my throat, I stepped inside. And found nothing but an empty beach house. No furniture, no nothing.
My feet slowed on the hardwood floor, eyes glued on the bay windows that looked out on the beach. What were we doing here? This place was beautiful. Perfect, really. Except for the fact that…there was no furniture.
“I don’t understand.” Frowning, I turned to Diesel who hovered in the doorway. “Is this not where we’re staying for the week?”
Diesel strode forward, silent and tense, his hand tapping on his pocket. He nodded toward the window. “What do you think of the view?”
I glanced over. “It’s gorgeous, but I still don’t understand what we’re doing here.”
The floor creaked, and when I turned back, Diesel had lowered himself to one knee. He held up a ring which glinted in the sunlight that streamed in through the bay windows, a ring I’d seen so many times before I couldn’t count. My grandmother’s engagement ring.
My heart began to race so fast that I had to press a hand to my chest. Tears sprung to my eyes, and I could barely see anything but the blue of the ocean, the glint of the ring, and the deep brown swirls of Diesel’s eyes.
“Lucy Evans. Before you came along, I was a mess of a man. I drove through life without a purpose, without a point. I want to say you changed me but it was so much more than that. Because what you really did is see through all the bullshit and remind me of the man I used to be. The man I want to be. You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. You’ve given me a beautiful baby girl I love with the very fabric of my soul. And I have fallen in love with you.”
Diesel took a deep breath and then continued. “All I want to do is spend the rest of my life making you happy. This house right here, it’s yours if you want it. Ours. To raise our family and live out our lives together. Your ocean you’ve always dreamed of is right outside that window, but that’s only the start. So, there’s only one thing I’ll ask. Will you marry me?”
“Oh my god. Yes, Diesel. A million times yes.” My words were garbled through the tears but I didn’t care. I launched myself into Diesel’s arms and held onto him so tight my body began to shake. After several long moments, he pulled back and dragged his thumb across my cheek. And then our lips met, a promise of forever, a promise of love.
Epilogue
A year into our marriage, I got to welcome our son to our little home of sunshine on the beach. Lucy sighed and shut the door behind us, tired and weak but beaming with pure delight. The floorboards creaked and Grams appeared from the hallway, Anna propped up on her hip.
“Look at you three.” Grams beamed. We saw a lot of her now that she’d returned to Florida and lived not twenty miles down the nearest highway. She’d stayed behind at the old house with Jared for awhile, just to make sure he’d sorted out his life. Grams was like that. Always thinking of everyone else over herself.
Even though Lucy said they weren’t related by blood, I’d never seen two people who were more the same.
And Jared had turned out just fine. Word was he had his own little one on the way.
“I’m absolutely beat,” Lucy said, dropping her hospital bag to the floor. Gingerly, she moved to my side and stared at our son with the purest form of love. “I have no idea how I’m going to keep my eyes open long enough to do my coursework.”
Lucy had managed to find a local university that offered a part-time and part-distance program. She’d started only a few weeks before we found out she was pregnant again. Being the firecracker that she was, she wouldn’t hear of backing out.
And she’d done it. She’d finished her first class a few weeks ago and had made a fucking A.
I was so damn proud of my girl.
“That is one gorgeous boy,” Grams said before glancing at Anna. “And a gorgeous girl. You two lovebirds sure are blessed.”
“I’m definitely the luckiest man alive.”
“And don’t you forget it, Tiger.” Lucy winked.
“Did you
decide on a name?” Grams asked.
She’d been pestering us about a name for weeks. But Lucy and I had agreed that we wanted to wait until he was born. A name to go with the face instead of the other way around.
“I know what to call him,” Lucy said quietly before meeting my eyes. “Jackson.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I am.” She squeezed my arm.
“Jackson.” It felt right on my tongue. I’d spent so long running from my past that I’d never considered using my baby brother’s name. But it was fitting. I was no longer mired in the events of that tragic day, and I’d left it all behind. And now I moved forward with only the best memories of Jackson in my mind.
And he’d been one hell of a man, and my son would one day be proud to have his name.
Only Lucy would have known just how right it really was. I looked into the eyes of my beautiful wife, and I smiled.
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What To Read Next
AXEL
I don’t want just any woman wrapped around my c*ck.
Only one. Annie Jackson, the sweet girl-next-door who broke my heart and got the h*ll out of dodge the first chance she got. She never even knew I had a f*cking ring in my pocket.
Now she’s back in town and looking sexier than ever.
If I’m not careful, she’ll end up back in my bed. And in my heart.
ANNIE
Five years ago, I left the love of my life. I had a good reason, but I’ve never been able to move on with another guy. No one compares to Axel Lee, the trucker with a heart just as big as his c*ck.
When my sister needs my help back home, it only takes moments to come face-to-face with my past—a tattooed, muscled, hot-as-sin past.
He hates me now. I can see it in his eyes.
But I want nothing more than to show him that five years hasn’t erased the way I feel. If I climb inside his truck, will he end up breaking my wounded heart again?
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