Page 46 of Unraveled Love

Fell in love with?

Holy shit. I was in love with Shawn.

I blinked several times, trying to clear my vision and settle my heart with that realization.

And yet…it came naturally. Easily as breathing.

As easy as it was to fall in love with Shawn. I wasn’t sure how or when it had happened, but it was true, and the truth of it settled deep inside me, somewhere deep in my chest and my gut, straight down to my soul.

Would I be brave enough to tell him? Hadn’t he looked at me with love in his eyes only minutes ago in the shower when he told me I loved his dirty talk?

Love.Yeah, I did love it.

And was that what I’d meant when I told him…not that I loved it, but him?

If the look in his eyes when I uttered those words was anything to go by, he not only understood what I hadn’t even realized yet…but he felt the same.

“Wow.” It came out on a whispered breath, and then a giddy laugh escaped my throat.

I was in love. For the first time in my life, a life that’d had enough years stolen and predetermined, I wasin lovewith a guy. A good guy, with only strength and values and morals knitting into the very fibers of his being.

My feet found a way to work, and I followed the scent of breakfast with a quickness that carried me straight to where Shawn was in the kitchen. I still couldn’t believe the excited butterflies in my stomach. I was giddy with the need to tell him, but then I took in the breakfast he was putting the final touches on, and all that ridiculous joyfulness popped liked a balloon and turned to something so much deeper. It wrapped around me like a warm hug as I realized what he’d made.

Eggs Benedict.

My favorite.

Of course he’d remember me telling him. It had only been a couple weeks, but with everything we’d been through, it felt like years. And yet, he’d remembered something so simple.

“You must have some seriously bad news to tell me if you’re plying me with my favorite breakfast.”

He turned, and those blue eyes of his I’d seen show so many different emotions over the weeks told me I was correct.

He placed the spoon he was using to drizzle hollandaise sauce over the eggs and ham into a small metal pot and set it on the stove.

“How are you feeling this morning?”

Not at all the response I expected. I trudged to him, that quickness in my feet now weighted down. “I slept well last night, so I feel fine. What’s the breakfast for?”

He sighed and a muscle worked in his jaw. Yeah, this wasn’t going to be a fun day at all, although maybe that was because we were headed for the mountains soon. A guy like Shawn wouldn’t like being taken off the hunt for Daniel, and I knew it irked him to trust everyone else to handle it, despite wanting to keep me as safe as possible. Maybe that was the reason for his sullen mood.

“I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

He was in protector mode. That doom-and-gloom tone I’d already called him on twice in the last two days made his voice rough and thick.

Still, I trusted him.

“I love you.”

The words flew out before I could stop them, before I could disguise them in other things I loved about him, but once they were out in the atmosphere, in the space between us, I had no regrets.

Mostly because Shawn’s eyes widened and brightened, and then that smile I loved so much kicked up the corners. He exhaled so mightily I felt the rush of his breath and relief fall from him.

He came to me, closed the gap in two long strides, and curled his hand around the back of my neck. He yanked me closer until our lips were almost touching. “Do you mean that?” I nodded, words escaping me due to the fierceness in his gaze. “Fuck, Addi. I love you, too.”

He slammed his mouth to mine before I could react, sealed our declarations with his lips fused to mine, and knitted them together as our tongues tangled.

I grappled for him, anywhere I could get my hands on, and I clung to the shirt he’d thrown on, pressing my chest to his and feeling his love for me in the dominance of his kiss, the beating of his heart, and his hardness beneath his sweatpants.

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