Page 132 of Burn Bag

“Like you do?” she countered.

“What exactly are you saying?” I asked, my voice narrowing.

“I’m saying that you did this whole dating app thing because the woman you really wanted to marry ran off with another man, and you couldn’t handle that. I’m just a second choice.” But then she laughed humorlessly. “I’m not your second choice. Emily was, but she chickened out. I’m the choice you never wanted.”

“Don’t ever fucking say that,” I snarled. I undid her belt and tugged her across the console, settling her across my lap. Fuck, having her sit astride me like this was not smart when we were sitting on the side of the road and all I could think about was burying my cock inside her and showing her just how much I fucking wanted her.

“Bradley—”

“You are not my second or third choice. You’re the woman who wormed her way into my life and fucked everything up.”

She fucking rolled her eyes at me. “Gee, thanks?—”

“Do you think I had some epic love with Isla? She was my childhood friend who I thought I was in love with. But it turned out, I didn’t really know what the fuck I was doing. It was obsession and…it was all wrong. I can see that now.”

It was clear as fucking day that I never really had anything with Isla. We were wrong from the start, and since I’d realized that, I hadn’t even really thought about her. The only thing I could focus on was finding the woman I was meant to be with, and she was sitting right the fuck in front of me now with tears in her eyes.

She bit her lip, blinking back the tears. “But she’s so possessive of you.”

“That’s her fucking problem.” I slid my hand around the nape of her neck, gripping her hair in my hand. “Daphne, whatever she said to you, that’s on her. She doesn’t fucking speak for me, and her bullshit does not have a place in our lives. We may not have the most conventional relationship, but it’s fucking real. I knew it from the moment you first cried.”

Her brows pinched in confusion. “You?—”

I shook my head, not feeling even an ounce of terror at what I was about to admit. That was how I knew it was real. “Your tears fucking shred me. I can’t even be mad at you when you cry, and that’s something you’ll most likely use against me for the rest of our lives, but there it is,” I teased.

“I would give anything to make sure that you never cry again. Hell, when you crashed my truck, I actually said it was my fault because I just wanted to make you stop crying.”

She laughed, her tears shining brighter, but more beautiful. I brushed my thumb across her cheek, wiping them away.

“You are by far the most chaotic woman I’ve ever met, but I’ve never been happier than when I’m in the hospital with cat scratches to my balls. Or a kick to the balls because you thought I was an alien intruder. Or?—”

She pressed her fingers to my lips, shaking her head in laughter. “I think we can stop listing all the times you’ve ended up in the hospital because of me.”

“I’d do it a million more times,” I admitted.

“Even when I bring snakes home?”

“Even then,” I grudgingly admitted. “My life is never boring with you.”

“I could try.”

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I grinned. “I’m perfectly happy with my chaotic life.”

“And your cats,” she added.

Rolling my eyes, I had to agree with her. “Fine, yes. I love the cats, alright?”

“I just wanted to hear you say it again,” she grinned, leaning in to press her lips to mine, but she stopped at the last second. “Um…there’s probably one more thing I should tell you.”

I steeled myself for whatever she was about to say. She secretly had a pet rat. A parakeet was hiding in the downstairs bedroom. Hell, she’d gotten together with Fox and expanded the kitten army to include rhinos.

“Okay, I’m ready. Hit me,” I said, blowing out a breath.

“Um…my parents…I haven’t exactly told them yet about you.”

I released a breath on a chuckle. “Okay, that was not what I was expecting. Baby, I can deal with parents.”

“Well…the thing is, my mom raised me to be this independent woman, and she’s not exactly going to understand why I chose to marry someone and settle down in Kansas. And she definitely won’t understand how we met.”

---