Page 57 of Bond Strength

That hadn’t been a part of the plan. I waited for him to shout “Joke” or something, but instead, he reached out. I slipped my hand in his, and he led me toward his car. The back seat was cramped with boxes; another person couldn’t fit there. Was one of his siblings in trouble?

“If this is a deal-breaker, I have a plan in place,” he said, “but I know you don’t hate surprises as much as I do.”

Declan wheeled around to the passenger’s side, but before I could peer inside, he opened the door. A happy bark sounded, and a fluffy blur raced in my direction.

No fucking way.

I dropped to my knees, and the fluffy blur collided right with my chest, almost knocking the breath from me. Sunlight filled me as another bark echoed through the air, and puppy kisses barraged my face. I didn’t need to question which dog was giving me all the love. Only one had connected with me on this level.

Petie calmed down and gave my nose another lick, then sat sweetly in front of me, panting with excitement.

“Is he…” I trailed off, not sure if I dared put my hope out in the air.

“Coming to live with us if you want,” Declan said. “With my hybrid schedule and your ability to stop home between jobs since my brothers aren’t monster slave drivers, I went to the shelter, and Petie was still available. He’s ours, as long as you agree.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I didn’t bother hiding them. Holy fuck. This man was perfect beyond my wildest dreams. I scratched Petie on the head and snagged his leash, then rose and closed the distance between Declan and me.

He’d noticed.

He noticed so much with his gorgeous mind, his careful gaze, his brilliant way of viewing the world, and in the short time we’d been together, I’d been happier than I could ever have dreamed.

So of course he’d make this dream come true too.

“I love you so damn much,” I said before slamming my mouth to his. He kissed me back just as hard, not giving a damn that we were making out in the middle of our driveway. Petie gave a happy bark and nudged at my legs, clearly not happy about not getting attention.

“So you’d like to keep our new roommate?” Declan asked, amusement in his eyes. I dropped down and accepted another barrage of puppy kisses along the side of my face.

“Abso-fucking-lutely. He was meant to be with us.” And I believed that deep down, the same way I’d always believed Declan was it for me.

I’d been drifting through life like a tumbleweed, tugged in one direction after another.

Together, we were forming our own family—Declan, Petie, and me—and I couldn’t be more thrilled for our future.

Epilogue

Declan

Six Months Later…

The heat in Orlando was disgusting, but I’d been waiting for this trip for a long time.

“Ready to celebrate?” Noah asked as we piled into the rental car, a red Toyota Yaris. We were halfway to our destination and had stopped at a dingy gas station for a pack of M&M’s and caffeine. Granted, if I didn’t eat my M&M’s fast, they would melt in this heat, just chocolate sludge everywhere. Fuck this heat.

“I’ll celebrate once we’re there.” I slid into the passenger’s seat. Noah was obsessed with driving, and since I didn’t care, I let him go to town.

“The whole trip’s a celebration, though. You did it.” He tossed me his signature heart-stopper of a grin that still made my heart do a backflip.

After a few months of sending out résumés and interviewing, I’d landed a chemical engineering job with an aeronautics company, and we’d decided to come down here. While it would be change—and I loathed change—I’d be working on projects that were more in the vein of what I’d been toying around with at home. I’d miss Henry and Jacob, but they promised to keep dragging me out, and I believed them.

Instead of keeping those projects in a dark basement to myself, I would use my skills to increase our abilities to eventually travel to the farther reaches of our solar system.

At least, one could hope.

Noah zipped along the highway at top speed, whistling to the tune of whatever shitty pop blared on the radio. Life with him and Petie had been amazing. And once I started the new job, I’d be selling my house as well. Petie was hanging with the grandparents—aka, my parents—and getting spoiled by the sheer volume of attention. By the end of the week, we’d have to pry him away. Mom and Dad loved him so much.

I turned the knob to blast the A/C higher, enjoying the coolness on my skin, and sank back in my seat. When Noah and I had gotten together, I’d been concerned about how our pieces would slot together, but we managed to make our relationship work and better than I could’ve dreamed. The ocean flashed by as we crossed the bridge, heading closer and closer to our destination.

I’d been wanting to go here for so long, but the sheer volume of unknowns with travel had me hesitating for a long while. However, Noah nudged me out of my comfort zone in the best way. He’d suggested the trip well in advance, with enough time for me to thoroughly research so I’d been prepared for the flight down. Though I hadn’t accounted for how muggy this humidity was. My god.

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