Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 126602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
I stopped breathing.
Holy yes, please get at me.
“I didn’t want to be in here in the first place,” I informed Sean as I stepped out of the booth and met him around the side. “And I wasn’t going to kiss anyone. I swear.”
“So what, you were just gonna take their money and chat?”
“That’s exactly what I was going to do. And don’t act like people wouldn’t pay. I’m a good fucking time.”
Sean chuckled, his mouth stretching into a grin, as he took my face between his hands. He bent lower.
Arms around his waist, I rolled up onto my toes, head tilting back to give him access, and as his lips slid against mine and pressed, a round of applause surrounded us, along with sharp whistling and cheers from Tori and Syd.
We laughed inside our kiss, but we kept it up.
It was a kiss worthy of applause, in my opinion.
When we finally pulled away, I planted my chin on Sean’s chest and smiled up at him as his arms circled my back.
“Told my girls about us,” he said.
Us. “You did?”
“Yeah,” he murmured, brushing strands of hair off my cheek and staring into my eyes. “Val and I talked to them about it. They like you. They were excited.”
I grinned. That felt nice. Almost as nice as this.
“We’re splittin’ custody fifty-fifty.”
My entire body jerked. “Oh, my God, Sean, that’s great!” I yelled. “I’m so happy for you.”
He smiled, then he pulled me tighter against him and dropped his head so his mouth was in my hair. “Wouldn’t be happenin’ if it wasn’t for you. You gotta know how much you mean to me.”
“Sean,” I whispered, leaning away so I could see his face. “It happened because of you…”
He cut me off. “Meetin’ you, gettin’ your voice in my head and feelin’ what you’d say in my heart, I was able to get it knowin’ it was mine,” he shared. “I might’ve gotten it without you, but I wouldn’t know I’m worth it. That was you.”
A tear slid out of my eye. “Okay,” I whispered.
His brows shot up. “Yeah? You ain’t gonna argue that?”
He sounded shocked.
“I’m too happy to argue right now,” I returned. “I’m in your arms, you just kissed me stupid…”
“Shit, baby, if that’s all it takes.” Sean bent down, gripped me under my butt, and lifted me in the air while he pressed kisses all over my face. “I would’ve been doin’ this since we first fuckin’ met.”
“Sean!” I screamed, holding onto him.
It was not a scream of protest.
I was laughing, shrieking, crying tears of joy, and waving at the crowd as they cheered us on.
I said my happiness came from being in Sean’s arms and feeling his mouth against mine, and that was true, but it wasn’t all of it, and because Sean knew his worth now and was well on his way to living life in all its beauty, I knew I didn’t need to list the rest.
But I was prepared to.
For him, I always would be.
Epilogue
SHAYLA
One Month Later
I stood in front of the mirror in Sean’s bathroom as I popped in my silver hoop earrings, this pair the classiest I owned since they were studded in diamonds.
The necklace I was wearing was classy too—a halo pendant, also encrusted in diamonds.
Sean and I were going out tonight and eating at a restaurant that required reservations, and in my opinion, reservations called for classy jewelry.
Aside from my earrings and necklace, I was wearing a blue sapphire ring my late nana had left for me. It was an antique, more than a hundred years old according to my mother, and if that didn’t scream class, I didn’t know what did.
And on my left hand, I wore the threaded ring Sean had given me when we got to his house after working the Memorial Day carnival together, and after a round of hot and heavy hallway sex, not being able to make it to the bedroom.
Classy was the best of the best, and the ring I never took off was just that.
I loved it more than any piece of jewelry I owned.
Sean didn’t propose to me that day, and I didn’t need him to. The ring was something he’d made thinking of me, hoping I’d wear it like he wore the threads around his wrist, and knowing how much those threads meant to him and the gesture he was making by giving me that ring, that was enough.
It was more than enough.
I didn’t need a proposal. I didn’t need Sean getting down on one knee. We were together, letting go and letting things happen like we always did, and because we were doing that, Sean and I both knew we would eventually get married and make things official.
But right now? We were just enjoying the ride.
And like all rides that included Sean, it was continually getting better and better.