Page 80 of Say You'll Stay

“Shower,” they say in unison.

There’s only one bedroom in this place, something he wasn’t aware of before, but thankfully they’re in a position now to make good use of it together. He notices an empty space in the corner opposite a second wood stove. “I can build her a crib from leftover fence posts in the shed. There’s room over there.”

“Build her one?”

“Mhmm. It’ll take a few days, maybe.”

“Can I help? Me and Flower can bring you snacks.” She lays Lucy on the bed where the baby kicks her legs out of the wrap and flails her arms, entertaining herself.

“Absolutely.”

The fact that Wade isn’t here hangs between them unspoken. Cole assumed all along that his friend had gotten here first, but now that hope is completely shattered. The sudden sadness on his face must prompt the sympathy on hers.

“I’m not giving up on him,” he says quietly. “If anyone can make it out there, it’s him. He could walk up that driveway tomorrow. I know it sounds like I can’t accept—”

“It doesn’t.” She cuts him off, her expression fond. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if he’s anything like you at all, and since you grew up together, I think he might be, then I fully believe he can survive whatever might be holding him up. He knows to come here. We’ll keep hoping until he does.”

“I was so mad at him for running off with a woman he just met,” he says with a shake of his head. “Didn’t get it. Now I do.”

She pauses, her tone serious. “Are we really doing this? Making a home here together?”

“Is that what you want?”

She nods. “More than anything.”

He takes her hand in his to run a thumb over the wooden band on her finger. “This is all I want. No matter what, I just need you. Us. I’d live with you in the woods if we had to. This is only home because we’re together.”

She glances at his mouth and he takes the obvious hint, leaning in to capture her bottom lip between his own. Wants to make sure there’s no doubt left in her mind that all he needs is what they have.

“It is our wedding night. What do you think we should do?” Her low, raw tone has his cock hardening.

“Are you sure?” He thinks they’re within the safe zone time-wise, but he doesn’t have a calendar to keep track.

“I’m sure. I feel good, but I want a shower first and to get the baby settled, and we need a condom, lemme just…”

“Got one!” Cole fishes out a handful from his pocket, glad he had a run-in with that old timer at the nursinghome. He shows her the different colored condoms like a bouquet until he realizes the implication of secretly hiding them. “Shit, I wasn’t…I didn’t mean…these were given to me and I just thought…you know, only practical.”

Pressing her finger to his lips, she quiets him before disappearing to search for her spare pants in a bag. She’s got a closed fist full of something when she comes in closer again, hooking one finger through the waistband loop on his jeans.

“You were just hoping?” she says, softly.

He nods.

She holds up her hand between them and fans out an identical offering of condoms, with the sweetest smile that he wants to kiss off her lips. “I’ve been hoping, too. I grabbed them from the first store we raided together.”

They share a shy laugh, toss the condoms on the bed, and then nothing else matters except showing his wife how much he loves her.

Chapter 22

Olivia brought a few candles upstairs to scatter around the bedroom. She blows out the match flame after lighting the last wick. A towel hugs her body, and she pauses in front of the old mirror atop a dresser as the shower spray from the bathroom goes silent. Anticipation of what’s to come has her nearly vibrating.

A puff of steam follows Cole when he emerges in only a towel slung low on his hips.

She catches his eye in the reflection with a mischievous glint. “You forgot your clothes.”

The warmth of him at her back makes her lashes flutter and her body melt into the arms that circle her, his breath soft at her pulse. “You forgot yours first.”

She nestles within his embrace, her eyes hooded and her nerves razor sharp as she watches him rest a temple beside hers in the mirror. His hand traces a journey down the side of her breast over the towel, and her breath hitches when he pauses at the hem to inch itup, up, up,massaging her bare hip.

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