Page 86 of Taming You

“I don’t know how long she’ll be up there for and I need to say this before she comes back down. I know you’re protective of her. She’s your younger sister, and you spent a lot of your life raising her. I get it, I have younger sisters. You guys helped her become the amazing, strong, independent woman she is now. I’ve told her I’m all in, and now I need you guys to know it, too. I want it all with Zoey. I want the life, the family, the memories. All of it. When she’s ready, I want to marry her. It’s too soon now. She needs time to let herself come to terms with how she feels about me and how I feel about her. But I will spend the rest of my life making sure she knows she’s loved and supported.” I sigh, knowing this next part will not be as easy for them to hear. “She told me about your parents.”

The shock on all of their faces is visible.

“I need her to know she’s in a safe space and loved unconditionally, and I’ll always be there for her.”

John, who hasn’t said anything this entire time, finally says, “She said she’s happy and even though she looks like a mess, she seems it.”

I grimace a bit at the full realization of what they came into hitting me. “Yeah, I just moved, and Jayden’s been sick. He’s only wanted Zoey. Like in a cry his head off when she hands him to me kind of way.”

Ezra chuckles. “Zoey was that way when she was sick as a kid. She only wanted me. It drove Henry up the wall, kept going on about how he was the one who did all these things for her and she just wanted to curl up in my bed and cuddle and sleep.”

Henry grumbles something, and Ezra nudges him with his elbow. “When she didn’t feel well, she never came to me. It was usually you or even Kai and Riley. She never wanted me.” Henry seems genuinely upset by this.

“Have you ever asked her? I’m sure she’ll shoot straight with you if you ask.”

The man rolls his eyes at me. “No, I haven’t asked my baby sister why she never wanted me when she was sick,” he says as though it should be obvious.

“Because I didn’t want to seem weak.” Zoey’s voice comes from the entrance to the dining room. “You were always the strongest of us all. You were kind of forced to be. I didn’t want to seem any weaker by needing to cuddle you when I was sick.”

Henry does his best to hide the pain, but I see it flash through his expression quickly.

“I know that’s dumb now, that you wouldn’t see it as weak, but I was a kid.” Zoey rounds the table and hugs Henry from behind and kisses his cheek. “If it will make you feel better, the next time I’m sick, I’ll climb into bed with you and snuggle.”

He pats her arm. “I’ll be perfectly fine, Zo.”

“My bed is off limits, the number of times you got me sick from your cuddles was insane,” Riley says.

“She was always patient X, she’d bring it home and then cuddle us and we’d all be sick by the end of it,” Kai says.

She grins at them from Henry’s shoulder. “You know you love me.”

“Loving you doesn’t mean we want your sick cuddles anymore, my bed’s off limits, too” Ezra says, shaking his head.

Everyone else, including Henry, says, “Same.”

“I forgot she’d pass those things around like free candy,” Henry says, and they all laugh.

“That’s fine, Bug. You’ve always got my bed.” Now I get her smile, and I can’t help but return it.

“Well, thank you. You are the superior cuddler.”

John groans, and she shakes her head. Her stomach growls again and I look at her full plate of food. Grabbing it, I head into the kitchen and pop it into the microwave. When it beeps, I bring it back with me into the dining room.

“Come eat, Bug.”

She rolls her eyes at me.

“You’re hungry and you’ve been taking care of a sick baby all day. Come eat something.”

She finally relents and takes a seat beside me and digs in. Everyone else has finished eating, but this girl prioritized Jayden, a baby who isn’t biologically hers, because she was the only person he wanted. I tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear and feel an overwhelming sense of love for her right now. As I stare at her, I wonder if I’ve bounced from woman to woman because I’ve spent the last twelve years in love with my sister’s best friend, but had convinced myself I couldn’t have her. Did a small piece of me always know this, but because she was always off limits, I subconsciously pushed it to the side so I didn’t look into it too much?

I look around the table and know if her brothers weren’t here, I’d be blurting the words out right now, but I want those three words to be said when it’s just us. When I can not only tell her but also show her.

I’ve told her before I’m all in, but this is so much more. If I told someone I’ve caught myself getting pulled in by engagement ring ads and have browsed, getting a sense for what I know she’ll absolutely hate and what she’d be more drawn to, they’d think I was crazy. It’s like every part of my subconscious has been screaming at me for weeks, months, years, that I love her, but I was too dumb and stubborn to see it. Now that I’ve realized it, I don’t know if I can convince her I’m worth taking a shot at forever with. I don’t want to dojust for nowwith her. I want everything. I can’t wait to watch her grow our children and for us to fill this house with adorable kids.

Zoey looks up at me and raises a brow. “What?”

I shake my head and smile. “Nothing.”

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