Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Everything was coming together, and I had no time to waste.
I was on solid ground with my husband for the first time in…probably ever. Last night had felt so different. We’d never really managed to solve a fight before. We’d been champions at sticking to accusations, then hate-fucking, then avoiding the problem while we fled reality on his boat or something. But not last night. We’d been honest about our hurt. We’d been honest about what we truly needed. We’d lowered our guards and allowed ourselves to be vulnerable.
We’d reeled each other in.
I felt like I could breathe on a whole new level.
Walker and I were gonna make it. And what was more than that? We were gonna build our own version of a family—something I’d only gotten a taste of before with Dean living next door.
I’d never dared to dream about that. Not with how I’d grown up, and how quickly I’d tried to get away from my own parents and their behavior. But I wanted this so fucking badly. I wanted Master and me in our real home, with Dean next door, so he could stop by for dinner and spend quality time with his brother. I wanted Master and Ty solid too, because…that was kind of blowing my mind even now. Just hearing Walker talk about Ty last night had revealed a new man in my husband, one I could already picture myself falling in love with. I wanted to see him with Ty. For some reason, I knew they’d be ridiculously sweet together.
I had my work cut out for me, though.
Lane was a huge puzzle piece.
We’d once grinned like fools, clinked our cocktail glasses together, and toasted to no attachments.
Not this time. We needed all the attachments. All of them.
I apologized for bumping into a Domme, then promptly sidestepped and narrowly avoided getting my toes mangled by someone’s boot.
When I emerged from the crowd, I landed smack-dab in the middle of the little space between Ty and Colt.
“Why’s everyone so fucking tall here?” I exclaimed. It was like walking around in Manhattan—and New York wasn’t my city. “Hello, Colt. Hello, Ty.”
Colt smirked. “Hey, pet. Shouldn’t you be in slave mode by now?”
“We had to take a break, but we’ll be back to regular programming soon,” I told him, then turned to Ty. “May I have a word with you?”
He inclined his head. “Yeah, sure. I want a word with you too.”
How exciting.
“I’ll go find Luke and our pajama boy,” Colt said.
“Is Lucas wearing a DM patch tonight?” I wondered.
“Till after the demo,” he confirmed. “Beau is on the next shift with Penelope and Ev.”
Okay, good to know, because I remembered Nathan was gonna take over the bar shift when Penelope was done there, and Gretchen was gonna work a double.
Ty and I made our way through the club, all the way to the other side. The seating area was packed, but we found an available bar table in a corner where we could hopefully have a semblance of privacy.
“We have about ten minutes before Walker joins us,” I said. “He wanted me to tell you he’s sorry he wasn’t there earlier—and that he wants to buy you a drink.”
Ty lifted his eyebrows and smiled faintly. “He’s got no reason to apologize. We didn’t decide anythin’.”
I shrugged. “You’re gonna have to let him woo you properly, Sir. That’s what he’s gearing up for, and he only knows one way.”
He chuckled and dropped his gaze to the table for a quick beat. “That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s too late to ask for the green light for somethin’ that’s already taken place, but I wanna be sure you and I are on the same page goin’ forward.”
I smiled, appreciating he wanted to include me in the conversation. He certainly didn’t have to, with the dynamic Walker and I had. I trusted my husband to stay within our boundaries—which felt amazing to acknowledge to myself. We had boundaries now, and I trusted him completely.
“The light couldn’t be greener, but I suppose I’m curious about your intentions.” It was difficult to keep the grin off my face when I worded myself like that. As if I were Walker’s old-school dad.
The amusement reflected in Ty’s eyes too. “I’m still figurin’ things out, but wherever we land, I hope it’s long-term. He’s…” He let out another chuckle and shook his head. “Like I said—still tryna wrap my head around it all. He came outta nowhere.”
I beamed. “Excellent answer.” I could relate. I could also see that Ty was smitten. The difference between him and me in this scenario, as two people who’d gone through a first, exciting meeting with Walker McKenna, was that I’d never minded airing my thoughts out loud. I’d wanted to scream from the rooftops ten years ago, and I’d been sure from early on that Walker was my soul mate.