Page 118 of Swan

“You two are cute together. How he dished up your dinner?—”

I rolled my eyes. “Dad and Talon do that too.”

“Which means he’s been brought up right and I know he’ll take care of my girl. But he also looks at you like he can’t believe his luck that he has you close. That you’re his.”

“Honestly, I feel the same way. I can’t believe I get to have him as mine. We’ve been friends for so long, and our families are close. But this… raw feeling I have for him came out of nowhere, and it’s strong,” I whispered the last part. “I’m pretty sure I already love him.”

Mum smiled. “It’s understandable, Swan. Like you said, you two have always been in each other’s lives since babies. You know him. How good he is. How kind. But you’ve always had Lockland on your mind. You saw no one else, and that’s fine. But now your world has shifted, and you’ve seen the possibility of something special with Dragon. I always thought he was into you but wouldn’t do anything about it because of our families. But I think he knew that your heart belonged to Lockland. Until now.”

Until now.

I’d always been attracted to Drake, but in the last couple of months, that had grown into something more. Something big.

I love him.

But I wasn’t at the stage where I was ready to confess yet.

I sneezed and sniffed.

“You’ve sneezed a few times. You’re not getting sick, are you?”

I shrugged. “I’ve been tired, but I feel fine.” I hoped I wasn’t getting ill. That would interrupt my time with Drake.

Mum gave me a hug and wished me sweet dreams with a smirk before she left. I reached over to turn off the lamp on my bedside table and then slid down the bed.

I glanced to the space beside me, imagining Drake there. I enjoyed how he’d held me all night at the mansion. I couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

DRAKE

I’d slept like shit because I missed Swan in my arms. But it didn’t matter. I’d wait a million years for her. She’d texted me when she woke that morning. Recalling it had me smiling. I reckoned she’d missed me as much as I had her. Even though she didn’t say it, I could tell.

I’d just walked in my door and was headed for a shower before I called my woman when my phone rang instead. “Hey, Birdy,” I answered.

“Hi,” she said, sounding croaky, and then sneezed.

“No offence, darlin’, but you don’t sound good.”

She coughed and snorted. “I don’t feel it. Just got worse as the day went on.”

“Birdy, you need to rest. Want me to swing by with some things? Wait, didn’t your parents say they were headin’ to the compound tonight?”

“I don’t want you sick, and they are. But that’s okay.” She sniffed and coughed.

“I ain’t afraid of some germs. I’ll be fine.”

“Honestly, I’m just going to go home and to bed.”

“Yeah, but make sure you take some meds, eat, and drink.” She probably wouldn’t. She needed someone at home. Was Nick even there?

“Too tired,” she whined. She shouldn’t even be driving.

“You good to get home?”

“Yeah.”

“Call me when you get there.”

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