Page 62 of Fall Hard

I kissed her, slamming my mouth onto hers with all the love and irritation and passion I felt before pulling back. “God damn it, will you just stop?”

“I don’t want to be a consolation prize,” she repeated, eyes shining, and I brushed away the tear that was making its way down her cheek.

“You could never, ever, be a consolation prize.” I pulled her to me, holding her tightly before I moved away again so I could meet her eyes. “Bryn, you are… everything.”

She looked like she wasn’t sure she believed me.

“If you’d just waited, I wouldn’t have had to chase you down in my pajamas and half a platform heel.” Bryn glanced down at my feet and a wet laugh left her. “I’m playing for keeps. All in. Whatever you can give me, I’ll take. I love you.”

“But what about Jamie?”

I shook my head as I glanced out at the park. We were garnering a few odd looks but I didn’t care. Bryn was too important for me to just let her walk away without all the facts. “Jamie is my friend.”

“And that’s it?”

“Yes. What I thought I felt for her… Well, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as my heart did when you walked away from me. Twice.”

Her lips twitched before forming a small smile. “I’m moving out.”

I bit my lip, my stomach dropping. “Okay.” I had just fucked this whole thing up.

“But I guess I would miss Ky.” I nodded slowly, not sure if she was going somewhere or just trying to be mean. “So maybe I don’t have to miss her.”

“You want to stay?”

“I want you to leave.” I hesitated, beyond confused as I obeyed and turned away, stilling only when she caught my arm. “Leave Jamie’s, you idiot. Come and live with me. I decided to buy a place, there’s plenty of room. We can have our own bedrooms if you like so things don’t feel like they’re moving too fast.”

Bryn was rambling, I realized. She wasnervous. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.

“It is a little fast…” I admitted. “But that would be a good change of pace for us.”

Her eyes lit up. “You’re sure?”

A slow smile broke out on my face. “You want me?”

“More than anything,” she murmured. A flush of pink seared her cheeks and I pressed a kiss to each of them. “There’s no rush though. I can move in now and you could join me later…”

I kissed her. “I want to be there with you from the start.”

“Really?”

“I feel like we skipped a few stages, but yes.” Bryn laughed, the sound tinged with relief, and I kissed her again. “Can we maybe go back inside now? My toes are going to fall off.”

We stuck to the grass as we made our way back to the apartment and Bryn pulled me onto her back when we got to the sidewalk so I wouldn’t hurt my feet any more. I snagged my shoe from the top of the stairwell and laughed when we walked in and found Jamie still sitting in the same spot.

“All good?” she called and I pulled Bryn into the room with me. She immediately went over to check on Ky and pressed a kiss to her tiny head.

“Yeah,” I said and glanced at Bryn, happiness bubbling away inside me. “But, ah, I’m moving out.”

“What?” she squealed. “Jesus. You two go big or go home, I guess. You’re sure about this?”

“Yes,” I said with a small smile, glad she cared enough to check-in.

We all stopped talking to watch Ky do a ridiculously big yawn and coo at her before Jamie turned back to us like she’d just remembered we were having a conversation. “So are you guys like, a couple now?”

I looked at Bryn and found her eyes already on me. “If she’ll have me.”

Bryn stood and walked over to me, her eyes bright as she pressed a lingering kiss to my lips. “Like I could get rid of you now.”

---