Page 168 of Trust Me Always

It’s tender. It’s sweet.

It’s loving.

It’s my Brady.

“I think I’m in love with you,” I whisper.

Brady goes tense, but not a breath later, his entire being seems to settle. He leans forward, pressing the world’s most precious kiss to my lips.

“That’s good, baby, because I know now I’ve been in love with you for a lot longer than I even realized.”

I run my nose along his, and he nips at my lips.

“It’s you, Hellcat. The girl, the woman, I can trust with everything I am today and the man I hope to become.”

I run my fingers across his cheeks, gripping his face in my hand and leaning up to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. His eyes close and he leans into my touch.

My big, strong man. My beastly…boyfriend.

He was afraid to tell me this, likely worried I would judge, or worse, walk away.

Deep down though, in that part of him where a part of me lives, he knew. It’s why he held on.

It’s why we’re here right now, because he understood that fear is natural, worry is inevitable, but trust…trust is everything.

“You know all my secrets now,” he whispers, turning his head slightly to kiss my wrist, those brilliant eyes meeting mine. “You know what that means?”

“What?”

His forehead meets mine. “I get to keep you.”

His words draw more tears to my eyes, and I melt into him, my eyes closing.

I don’t have to pretend he didn’t quickly become my everything anymore, because I’m his too. I want this. Us.

Him and the life he’s planned.

“Brady?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Can we have sex now?”

Brady goes stiff but only for a millisecond, and then he throws his head back with a laugh, and just like that, our future is settled.

My man tackles me onto the mattress.

If I’m lucky, that’s where we’ll stay for the rest of the weekend.

CHAPTER FORTY

Cameron

Six monthslater

Brady comes barreling out the front of my dorm building with the final box in his hands. It’s move-out day, marking the end of our third year here at Avix University.

“Last one!” I clap, cheering him on from my seat like the proper passenger princess he’s forced me to be today. I did at least bring down what I could carry on my way to my spot in the cab of his truck.

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