I placed my hand over Sid’s. “I couldn’t agree more.”
****
Sid and I sat side by side on the back deck long after our friends had departed. Trixie was still busy sniffing around, marking her territory as though she could somehow defend it if push came to shove.
“The only home I’ve ever known has been with you,” I marveled out of nowhere as the thought sprang into my mind. “I thought at first it was just our place in Silverlake with Piper and Cade, and now this, but even Brad’s felt like home to some extent.” I turned to look at him, taking in his handsome face in the muted light. “I think I’d feel at home anywhere with you.”
He pulled me deeper into his side, kissing my temple.
I groaned. “You wanted me to share more and now I’ve become so sappy, it’s nauseating.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” he stage whispered with a grin. “I like you sappy. It’s cute as hell. So is your snarky side and your clumsy forgetful side. And that voice. Damn, when you sing….” He trailed off reverently.
I nudged him with my knee. “Now who’s sappy?”
He shrugged. “I’ll be a sap for you. I’ll wear that shit like a badge of honor after everything we’ve been through.”
I nodded in agreement. “I could live without another gun pointed at me ever again.”
He turned to me, his blue eyes serious. “I’ll die before it happens again.”
I snuggled into his side. I looked out at our new backyard, imagining the future we’d build in the confines of the walls behind us and underneath the sky above. “No talk of dying. Forever, remember?”
“Forever,” he agreed with a smile.
EPILOGUE
One Month Later
I paced our living room for the hundredth time as Trixie sat on the couch watching me with her large dark eyes. She’d paced with me for the first fifty laps, but had gotten tired at some point.
Sid had been gone for three weeks; he’d accepted a contract just a week after we’d moved into our house.
This was the test we’d both known was coming. It was time to start our real lives together, which, along with the bliss of building our future, also meant at times he’d be taken away from me.
That last night had stayed with me every day, every moment. He’d made love to me until I could barely move before he pressed his forehead to mine. “We’ve been through hell, baby.” His voice had been insistent through the darkness. “We’re stronger than iron. We’ve got this, yeah? Don’t forget that.”
I hadn’t.
Despite everything that had transpired the last few weeks, I’d held firm to that resolve. I’d leaned on my friends in a way that my old self wouldn’t have. I’d opened up freely to them on those nights when I’d struggled most.
Sarah and Danny had both spent the night more than once, Piper called daily, and the guys that weren’t overseas had all checked in frequently. I had an entire family who worked every day to show me that the trust I’d worked so hard to share wasn’t misguided.
I’d never felt so lucky.
My phone rang, the sound shrill and shocking in the quiet space. Trixie and I both jumped before I sprang for it.
“Is he home yet?” Piper’s voice asked, her urgency barely suppressed.
“The answer is the same as the last time you called,” I answered with a practiced sigh.
And when Danny and Sarah called, I thought.
“Sorry, I’m just impatient,” she replied, eliciting a snort from me.
“You’re impatient?”
She laughed. “I know. I know. The world doesn’t revolve around me and my emotions. It’s a hard concept to grasp.”
I laughed, so grateful for my friend and her ability to distract me. My friends and my music had been a wonderful distraction.
That didn’t mean I didn’t miss my man like crazy. After three long weeks, I could barely stand it.
“Well, I’ll let you go so you can continue to pace a hole into your floors,” she said dryly.
She knew me too well.
“You have to call me when you tell him. At least text me,” she added pleadingly.
“I will,” I promised with a smile and a yawn.
“Let’s go wait for him in bed,” I suggested to Trixie after hanging up with Pipe. I’d perfected my dog monologue in the past three weeks.
I curled into our bed, lifting the covers so Trixie could burrow underneath.
“Baby.” His deep voice was like a dream as it floated over me.
“Hmm?” I murmured.
His warm, calloused hand ran over my cheek. “I’m home.”
My eyes sprang open and I sat up suddenly. “You’re here!” I exclaimed. I’d fallen asleep with the lights on and I was grateful of that fact as I got my first look at my handsome man. He sat on the edge of the bed in his formfitting black pants and camos. He’d buzzed his hair again right before leaving. It made his features that much more striking. I admired the brightness of his eyes as they stared warmly back at me.