Page 52 of The Only Thing That's Real

“This is why you said Sawyer was lucky to have so many people to love him.”

She finally graces me with her big brown eyes. God, she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. “Whatever you do, never make him feel less than. That shit sticks with you your entire life.”

To my grateful surprise, she rests her head on my shoulder. She’s done talking and my mind and my heart are buzzing. I bring her hand to my mouth, placing a kiss against her skin. Her words settled deep inside my soul. I promise myself from this day forward, Sawyer is my number one priority. Even if that means my baby brother will be his dad. I have no doubt Angus and Mia are going to get married. Sawyer will grow up living with Gus.

Flashes of Sawyer melting into my brother at Cal’s wedding is all I need to know. Mia, Gus, and Sawyer were meant to be a family. But I will be a part of that family too.We’ll figure it out. It may be unconventional, but we will make it work for Sawyer.

“Thanks for listening. You’re the first person I’ve ever told. Daisy and Mia don’t even know.”

What the fuck?

She’s carried all of this around with her for decades. No wonder she doesn’t take shit from anyone. She took enough as a child.

I’m honored she shared her truth with me.

“Anytime, friend.”

She tries to pull her hand away, but I’m not ready.

“Seriously. Any time.” I kiss the back of her hand again.

She lifts her head from my shoulder. Our eyes meet and a bolt of energy rips through me. When she leans in and presses her lips to mine, my shock turns into disbelief, and I don’t react. Too frightened to move.

Taking my lack of response to her kiss the wrong way, she pulls away. The loss of her lips against mine snaps me out of my unresponsive state.

Turning to face her, I cup her cheek in my hand, bringing her lips back to mine and kissing her lightly. When I pull back to gauge her feelings, she wraps her fingers around my wrists, keeping me in place. I lean in again and kiss her gently. No tongue. No untamed heat. That’s not what this first kiss is about. I want her to know how important she is.

She is anything but a disappointment.

She is more than enough.

Oh, how I would worship her if given the chance.

Knowing this has to stop before it goes any further, I release her. Pressing my forehead against hers, taking another quiet moment together as her heavy breaths caress my face.Something in me awakens. Like I have a purpose beyond the band and the life I’ve known for two decades.

Standing, I turn away from her for a beat while I adjust my fully awakened self in my jeans.

“C’mon, we don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea,” I say, turning back to her. She blushes under the streetlight, looking away, embarrassed. She’s taken my comment the wrong way and that just won’t do. “You’re here to do a job. I don’t want anyone to think you have something nefarious going on with your assignment. But trust me, Ry. If I had my way, you’d be mine and the entire world would know.”

“What?” she gasps. Her head whips back to mine.

“You heard me. But I know I’m a mess and you have a job to do. We’re friends and I’m here for you. And maybe someday...”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ryan

Maybe someday what?

We walk back to the restaurant side by side, hand in hand. When we reach the entrance, he drops my hand, opening the door for me to enter ahead of him. We take our seats at the opposite ends of the table where our food is waiting for us.

Everything feels different.

It’s impossible not to notice the four sets of eyes bouncing between the two of us. But nobody says a word. They carry on with their conversations while I eat my salad, as if Knox didn’t just tell me he wanted me. That he wanted the world to know I was his. As if the sweet kiss we just shared didn’t shift something inside me.

I’m not sure why I told him about my dad. Nobody outside of our immediate family knows the truth. We’vealways lied and said there were tall red-haired women way back on my mother’s side. But since we shook hands in that cafe, before everything went haywire, I’ve known I could trust Knox. I’ve felt it in my bones.

When I heard footsteps outside, I didn’t need to look up to know it was him. The air shifts whenever he’s near.

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