Page 118 of Forgotten Desires

I shake my head and smile. “You’re a mess.”

“Phoebe tells me that daily.”

Crew enters the room, and I can feel my whole face light up. “Hey.”

He walks toward me, forcing a smile. “Hey.”

He and Asher share a look and my brother kisses my forehead. “I’ll see you when you’re out.”

Nerves hit me, but I keep myself together. “Love you.”

“Love you more.”

Asher leaves and Crew comes around to where he was standing. “What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

Yeah, I don’t buy that.

“Try again,” I say with a brow raised.

“I swear, Bee, nothing is wrong. In fact, I’m just not even sure what to say or how to comprehend it all.”

I shift, sitting up a little more. “Please just tell me. I’m assuming it’s about Layla.”

Crew nods. “It’s over. She signed the papers, even without me being there to threaten or beg her to do the right thing. She wants to enter a voluntary rehab center and is considering moving to be near her family in Arizona. My lawyer offered to pay for the treatment and negotiated terms far better than I could’ve even wished for.”

The heavy weight that’s been on my chest lifts. “She’s yours?”

He looks to me. “Yes. We have her full time. Jacqueline has agreed to supervised visits every other week once she’s out of rehab. I’ll pay her a small stipend for the next two years so she has a chance of getting her life back together. Layla is ours and I don’t have to worry anymore. How is this even fucking real? How did I get everything at once?”

“Come here,” I say softly. When he does, I take his face in my hands. “It’s real and you don’t have to worry anymore. Okay?”

He laughs softly. “I think I have one more big worry to deal with.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You better be, Brynlee Knight. I’ve lived in a world without your smile and I’m not going back to that. So, come back to me, okay?”

I smile and nod. “Okay.”

Just then the nurse knocks and enters the room. “It’s time to head back, Brynlee.”

“All right.” I barely get the words out and Crew crushes his lips to mine.

I pour my love into the kiss, wanting him to know just how much he means to me.

Crew leans back, then kisses me again. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I nod. “Yes, you will.”

I close my eyes as the nurse wheels me away from the man I have fallen so hard for and I focus on the fact that for this one moment in time, the world feels right.

twenty-eight

CARSON

“You know pacing around here isn’t going to make us get answers any sooner, right?” Asher asks and I sigh, forcing myself to sit.

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