Page 169 of Trust Me Always

He finishes his game of packingTetris, fixing the last box into the back beside his, and lifts his hands into the air in victory.

I give him a celebratory cheer, and he flexes his muscles like he’s on a stage at some sort of muscle-man competition.

A few people around honk and whistle, and Brady grins, eating up the attention, but the only one he really cares about watching is me.

And I am glued to the man.

My man.

My man who finished out the season as the number-one defensive end in all of college football. I’m so fucking proud of him.

He closes the tailgate and walks over to the grass pathway before heading back and hopping into the cab of the truck. He tugs me to the middle, intomyseat, and when he turns to face me,he has two dandelions in his hands, the petals long gone, leaving only the white wisps behind. He holds one out to me as he rolls his window down all the way and smiles. “Make a wish.”

I smile at my gentle giant and close my eyes, making a quick wish. Together we blow the little seeds, watching as they float away out the window.

“What did you wish for?” I ask as soon as we’re buckled.

He merely smirks and presses a quick kiss to my temple. He prepares to pull away, but before he can, I reach out and set something on his dash.

His hand freezes on the gearstick, eyes glued to the little clay molding. His head snaps from it to me and back again before he reaches out and takes it in his hands.

He inspects it a little closer, and I laugh when his fingers glide over the sharpest point.

“Brady!” I smack him and he grins.

“Did you make me a mold of your body, baby?”

“It’s my boobs and pierced nipples, but yes, yes, I did.” I smile, proud. “Remember back in, like, I don’t even know, October maybe, when I told you I made you something in class?”

Brady’s jaw drops. “No.”

“Yes.”

He sits back so he’s half leaning on the door, frowning at me. “You mean to tell me I could have had the mental image of my favorite part of you in my head for all those long showers I had to take after you started torturing me with pretend mouth fucking?”

“That is exactly what I mean. Too bad it got lost in my room at some point and I forgot about it.” I grin, taking it back and grimacing at how bad my molding skills were back at the start of the semester. “I literally just found it today under the bed.”

Brady swipes it from my hands, pressing a hard peck to my lips. “Mine,” he mumbles against them, then sets the little clay boobs on the opposite side where I can’t reach.

I sit back with a smile, and we’re on the road a minute later,this time without having to stop for coffee before hitting the highway because he already had one in here waiting for me to claim it.

Ari, Mason, and the others left ahead of us, but Brady needed some extra time, so of course I hung around until he was ready. He said he had another stop to make before he could be here, but we aren’t all that far behind.

“So Mom said they have all the rooms set up at the house—Ari and me in the master, Chase and Noah are in the spare, and Paige in what was my room before we moved to the city house. Mason, Payton, and the baby aren’t staying; they’ll come for the party tomorrow but go back to his parents’ at the end of the night, and because Vivian and Evan aren’t pretending their kids are wearing chastity belts—though I’m starting to wonder if I have on an invisible one and no one’s told me”—I give him a pointed look, but he only smirks at the road—“anyway, they get to sleep together in Mason’s room, and Vivian has a spot for Deaton all set up in Ari’s.”

“How do you think Noah’s going to do not getting to share a bed with Ari when today marks day twenty since he’s seen her and day one of their only two months of uninterrupted time they’ll get all year?”

“About as well as you will,” I tease.

“Yeah, I notice you didn’t mention my name in there anywhere. Where am I supposed to sleep?” He smiles.

I think back on what my mom relayed, not catching she left him out completely. “Huh.” I tip my head, staring at his profile. “Maybe my dad made you a pallet next to his side of the bed?”

Brady laughs, his right hand coming down to clench around my thigh. “I wouldn’t put it past him, but he didn’t sound all that surprised when we told them we’re together on Christmas break.”

“Pretty sure your mom talked to my mom the second we pulled out of your driveway back in November. She kept giving me those mom eyes, you know?” I think about it. “How they getall dopey and cartoon-like, round and glossy but in a cute way. She definitely saw something we hadn’t fully figured out yet.”

“Oh, I’d figured it out.” Brady smirks. “I basically told my dad I wanted you, and he pretty much told me I already had you.”

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