Page 44 of My Wild Mountain Man

“Good.” He hugged me, and when I pulled away, Austin was already walking towards the bar.

“You guys stress me the fuck out.”

“He knew, didn’t he?”

“Yup,” I admitted, surprised to hear Onyx laugh.

“You really love her?” Onyx asked as we took a barstool in front of Austin, who poured each of us a drink.

“With all my heart, man.”

“How did you know?” he asked, his gaze sincere, and that made my eyes widen.

“I mean…” Austin and I glanced at one another, and I was surprised to hear Austin clear his throat, his voice deeper than usual. “I think it’s when the idea of never being around them, of seeing them with someone else makes you burn from the inside out.” He shrugged and chugged the whiskey he’d poured.

“I can’t imagine my life without her. I want to… make her happy. I want to make her life easier. See her smile. Love her for the rest of my life,” I admitted, and Onyx nodded.

“Even with the age difference?” he asked, and I felt Austin’s attention.

These two had something going on, and I had obviously been too caught up with Raven to notice.

“No matter what, I wanna be with her. In any way she will let me,” I admitted before hopping off the barstool before I turned to Onyx. “We’re good?” He nodded.

“Always, brother.”

“I gotta get going.”

“To my sister?” he asked then winced. “That’s going to take a moment to get used to.” I laughed and hurried back to my place because I was more than ready to slip back into bed with my pretty girl.

Without anything hanging over my head, I knew this was exactly where life was supposed to take me. I’d always heard people say everything happened for a reason but had never believed it, until I’d noticed Raven all grown up.

Suddenly, all the highs and lows of my life made sense. I’d do each and every thing all over again if it meant finding Raven and spending the rest of it with her.

epilogue

. . .

Raven

Bash walkedme to my door and took the keys from my hands. His body caged me against the doorway of my apartment, and my hands moved up to his chest, holding on to the soft thermal material of the blue, long-sleeved henley he wore.

We had been together for a little over four months, and there hadn’t been a day we’d spent apart. We’d just come home from Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house. Who, surprisingly enough, unlike my brother, had taken a moment to adjust to the idea of their youngest child dating their son’s older best friend.

Not that they hadn’t come around.

They’d known Bash for years and knew what kind of man her was. When they saw how he treated me, how his number one priority was me, they’d fallen in love with him in a whole other way just like they had with my sisters’ guys. Even tonight, my dad and Bash had been thick as thieves outside, deep frying a turkey with Onyx.

“You okay?” he asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “You wanna come in?” I asked, giving him a little wink.

“I always wanna go in,” he growled. His lips touched the shell of my ear. “But I think we need to talk first.” He pulled back, taking me slightly off guard.

“Talk?” I smiled, but when he didn’t, it died on my face. “Uh-oh.” I tried to keep my tone light as worry crept up my neck, “Sounds serious. What’s up?” I noticed how he not only pulled away, but he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his cargo pants. “Bash?” I called out. My voice trembled. When we were together, there was never a moment he wasn’t touching me in one way or another.

“I wanted to do this a whole other way,” he blurted, and I frowned, my brows narrowed.

“A whole other way?” I repeated quietly, my mind spinning with what he could possibly be talking about.

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