“Damn…I love you,” He says, his voice filled with raw emotion.

“I love you back.” I say breathlessly, raining kisses over his face and smoothing his wet hair back.

He lowers me to my feet and we take a lightning fast real shower together as the water has gone mostly cold. When we step out, I realize water has sprayed onto the floor from the shower head flinging around. I kneel down and wipe up the water with an extra towel. “That was pretty amazing.” I say, the ecstasy still quaking through my body.

He grins down at me and my eyes are drawn to that incredibly sexy V as he wraps his towel around his narrow waist. “You’re not allowed to touch that by yourself. I hold the keys to the magic shower stimulator.”

“Oh, really?” I tease.

“Really.”

I stand and kiss his cheek. “I wouldn’t want to do anything without you, anyway. That would be cheating.”

A frown replaces the smile he had a few seconds ago and his eyes turn a shade the color of molten chocolate. “You actually mean that, don’t you?”

I squeeze the excess water from my hair with the towel and look at him quizzically. “Mean what?”

“That you wouldn’t cheat on me.”

My stomach pitches just thinking about that. “Of course I mean it. Are you crazy? Why would I ever cheat on you?” I poke his abs playfully. “You’re the perfect man. Sexy, sweet, caring, you love pets, you beat up bad guys, you kiss bunny noses…should I go on?”

He leans back against the sink and watches me as I dry myself off. “I never told you about this but Sydni cheated all the time. Of course she didn’t think of it as cheating because we were in a so-called open relationship, but she was the only one with the opening.”

I look at him in confusion. “Open relationship? What’s that?”

“It means you date and sleep with other people but still have an ongoing relationship with someone else.”

“Oh!” I say in surprise. I had no idea. “Ew.”

“Yeah, ew.”

“Did you…?” I don’t want to know that he’s been having sex with half our town.

“Once. A long time ago. I was young and thought it would be fun to be able to have a free pass to sleep with anyone I wanted, ya know? But it sucked. I felt guilty and dirty. Back then I cared about Syd a lot, but over the years with all that going on, it destroyed us. Especially her obsession with your father.”

“Were my parents like that too?” I ask, starting to feel sick. If my parents were in a relationship like that it would ruin everything I believed about them.

He wraps a thick white towel around me and pulls me to him. “Fuck, no. Your parents were completely committed to each other. Asher hasn’t touched a woman in years even though Sydni has done everything but beg on her knees to blow him.”

I breathe a sigh of relief but I’m still nauseous thinking about how Sydni has been chasing my father—her best friend’s husband, on top of sleeping with other men. She’s worse than I thought.

“I’m sorry, Kenz. I shouldn’t be talking like this. Sometimes I forget that he’s not just my friend, he’s also your dad.”

“It’s okay, you can talk to me about anything. I just don’t understand why Sydni would do that when she had you.”

“Variety, fun, excitement, riding different dicks. Who the hell knows.” He shrugs but it’s obvious her behavior has hurt him.

“You don’t ever have to worry about that with me, Tor. I don’t care if I’m eighteen or fifty. I’ll never want anyone but you.”

He swoops me up into his arms, kissing me as he carries me to his bed. My head falls to the side and my gaze lands across the room as his lips tickle my neck. It takes me a moment to register what’s different about his room today, and then it comes into clear view. The glass jug, the one that’s been filled with coins for as far back as my memory goes, is now empty.

The engagement ring family tradition.

It seems like a lifetime ago when he told me about the tradition, but in fact it’s only been two years. I distinctly remember the unexpected feelings of jealousy that crept over me at the time, picturing him with some lucky woman who would become his wife someday, and secretly wishing it could be me.

My arms tighten around him, his body still hot from the shower, as his lips move over my bare skin.

Could it really be me? Or am I living a temporary dream on borrowed time?

29

Tor

Tor ~ age twenty-two

Ember ~ age twenty-two

“Did you tell him yet?” I ask her softly. Her breathing is soft and even in the dim room next to me, but I know she’s awake.