Page 126 of Never Will I Ever

Keene doesn’t notice, though. He’s still staring at me, waiting for a response.

If I was questioning whether or not Kaleb had spoken to him about us, all of that is gone now. And, truthfully, I don’t mind one bit if he—or anyone else for that matter—knows.

Having Kaleb is the only thing I care about; the rest is just noise.

Smiling like a fool, I drop my gaze to the ground between my feet and nod. “Yeah, he fucked me up pretty good. In the best way possible.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here talking to us?”

My head snaps up, finding Keene’s gaze still locked on me.

His question takes a moment to truly sink in, the hidden meaning within it becoming more and more clear when a small smirk lifts his mouth at the corner. Pair it with the gleam in his eyes, and the unspoken intention may as well be a neon billboard with flashing lights.

Go get your man.

An easy smile of my own forms, and I rise from the bench, ready to do just that. But before I walk away, I stop myself, having one more thing to say.

“Thank you.”

He gives me a faint nod, brow arched in challenge. “Don’t screw it up.”

Never again. Not in a million years.

“Did I miss something?” Aspen mutters under his breath just as I start toward my car.

I hear Keene’s low chuckle before he says, “Yeah, but it’s not my story to tell.”

Warmth floods me instantly, despite the statement not being meant for my ears. Because it’s still for my benefit, even when he doesn’t owe me a damn thing.

I was cruel, hateful, and the worst kind of human to them both, and most people wouldn’t hesitate to return the favor. They’d take their knowledge and fight fire with fire, letting the power it holds destroy anything in its path.

Instead, he tucks it in his back pocket for safekeeping.

If that isn’t forgiveness, I don’t know what is.

Thirty-Three

Kaleb

A knock on my apartment door has me bolting up from my couch, ending my hour-long session of surfing through Netflix titles while waiting for Avery. I flick open the lock and yank the door open with far more force than necessary, and if it were anyone else on the other side, I’d probably be embarrassed by my eagerness.

But the second I find Avery’s devastating smile waiting for me, my heart melts.

“Hi,” I say on a soft exhale.

If possible, his grin grows wider as he takes a step over the threshold and slips a hand around the back of my neck.

“Hi, yourself,” he murmurs.

I’m not sure who moves first, but it doesn’t matter when our lips collide in a brutal crash that nearly knocks me off my feet. My hands instantly wrap around his lower back, steadying myself before pulling him against my body to deepen the kiss. That’s all it takes for the worry and tension and heartache from the past few months to disappear.

Completely erased by the feel of his lips on mine.

“How did it go?” I ask between kisses. “You took longer than I was expecting.”

“Aspen almost hit me with his car, to start.”

“What?”

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