“Oh?” A part of me demands to be terrified, but it’s impossible to feel that way when I’m with Wyatt. “I’m flattered already. Should I be?”
“Yes.” He pulls me in tight with a laugh caught in his throat. “Maybe. What I’ve been dying to say since before any of this transpired”—his petal green eyes press into mine with a tenderness that melts me like snow—“Marley, I love you.” The whites of his eyes glisten in the light as tears come—“I’m madly, insanely, deeply, unapologetically in love with you.” He tilts his head back and shouts, “I love Marley Jackson!” The sound of his voice echoes from the mountaintop, rioting all the way to the sky. He dots my neck with a kiss. “I love you, Marley. What we had was lightning in a bottle, and I want it all back. You’re mine. I need you every day. I need you in my bed, in my heart, in my life. For the first time in so long I feel whole again. I haven’t felt this way since I was a kid.”
“Since your mother passed away.” I nod into him, tears streaming down my face, hot and wild. “Wyatt, I love you, too.” I touch my lips to his and press in without anything more. “I was going to tell you the night before everything fell apart, and we sort of got a little crazy beneath the sheets. It’s safe to say, you wore me out.”
He tweaks his brows, proud of the fact. “That’s something you can get used to.”
“I really do love you.” My finger glides over his lips. “I have never meant those words more in my life.” I dig my fingers through his hair and draw him close.
Wyatt sinks his mouth over mine, and in an instant devours me. His tongue runs wild, moving his affection through me like an unstoppable bullet train.
God, I’ve missed this.
I’ve missed Wyatt like a man dying in the desert misses water. And, here he is, delivering the life-giving spring straight into my mouth.
The urge to giggle takes over, and I don’t fight it. I pull back and take in this beautiful man with dark hair and dimples that had me edging out of my mind the first time I saw him at the Black Bear. He’s all mine.
“I guess this means we’re officially in love.” I graze over his cheek with my teeth.
“And we always will be.”
Wyatt and I fall into a kiss that seals our newfound affection in a way that words could never convey. His deep throated kisses, the soft tender lashings of his tongue, the passion-fueled frenzy as we take one another in with rabid impatience—it all shouts I love you from the top of the mountain, echoing loud and clear right down to our souls.
Wyatt
Marley and I make a quick stop at her dorm to pick up a few things. I’ve convinced her to spend the night—actually, no convincing was necessary. Marley is one hundred percent on board with staying over.
“You mind if we hit the Black Bear? Blake is playing tonight.” I round my hand over the wheel. “Plus, I sort of want to show you off.” My lips fidget with a smile, but I try not to give it.
“By all means.” She leans in and gives the hair just above my neck a quick tug. “And I’m about to do the same. Be ready to be claimed once and for all, Wyatt James. And don’t think for one minute I’m above peeing a circle around you once those sorority girls start trolling. I’ve seen the way they look at you. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if I have to throw my naked body over you just to protect you.”
“Naked?”
“Yeah, well, I figure it’ll give them less to grip when they’re trying to tear me away.”
A dark laugh rumbles from me. “I’ll be holding you too tight to ever let that happen.”
We park and head inside. It’s a body-to-body kind of night. I’m sure there’s a fire code or two being overlooked, but everyone has a drink in their hand, so the bar is happy.
“Wyatt, my man!” A hard slaps emits over my back, and I turn to find Bryson and his wife, Baya.
“What’s going on?” I offer up a light sock to the arm.
“What is going on?” Baya’s eyes widen as she inspects my arm around Marley’s waist. “Everything okay?”
Marley pecks a kiss over my cheek. “More than okay. I think we’ve finally straightened everything out.”
“I’m so glad.” Baya tears up as if she’s been rooting for us the entire time. It’s nice to know that maybe she has been. That maybe she sensed Marley and I belonged together before we did.
Annie and Blake head over with Ryder and Laney by their side.
“Dude.” Blake offers up a knuckle bump. “I’d better get on stage, but I wanted to say I’m glad to see you two together.”