Page 108 of Hooked
“Okay.” She scooted over to give him more room. “Jeremy?”
“Mmm-hmm?”
“Just so you know, I am not going to ask you to stop climbing. I know this was a freak accident. I’m not going to lie that I won’t worry, but—”
“If you wanted me to stop, I would.” His voice was sleepy. “I love climbing, but I don’t love it more than you.”
She let out a long breath. She wasn’t sure if he’d been drugged up the first time he said it, but he was more than lucid now.
“I love you.” He said it again. “Just in case you didn’t catch that. I wanted you to know, because I was walking off that hill, and about halfway down I had this moment where I realized that I really could have died. If I’d landed on my head or if my bone broke and cut an artery… it could have been bad. I could have died, and you wouldn’t have known that I love you. And that pissed me off.” He kissed her temple. “So I love you. Now you know.”
She hugged his waist. “I love you too.” She thought it would feel weird, but it didn’t. Saying it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“Are you saying that because I could have died?”
“No. I realized it the other day when I was acting really weird.”
He froze. “That day you took the world’s longest shower?”
“Yeah. It was kind of an existential crisis. I needed to conference with Daisy and Emmie for a while.”
“You love me?”
“Really a lot.” Tears came to her eyes. “I love you so much I would even go camping with you. As long as we go somewhere with toilets.”
“Oh Tayla.” His shoulders shook with laughter. “I can agree to toilets.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll work up to backpacking.”
Give him an inch… “I came to a decision about that job.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re not taking it because—”
“I’m going to try for it. I have a plan, and I really think that they’re going to like it once I write up a counteroffer.”
“It’s your dream job, baby.”
Tayla opened her mouth. Closed it.
“Was it the ‘baby’?” Jeremy asked. “Is ‘baby’ weird? I’ve been thinking that in my head, but I didn’t know if it was weird.”
“I surprisingly don’t hate it.”
“Maybe just in private though?”
“Private works. Baby is nice in private when you use your low, sexy voice.”
“Like this?” His voice dropped an octave. “You like this, baby?”
“I am forced to admit that you could say pretty much anything to me in that voice and it would work.” She smiled. “You could call me dumpling and it would be okay.”
His chest shook with quiet laughter. “I am never going to call you dumpling, even knowing I could get away with it.”
“I appreciate that.” She smiled against his chest. “I really love you, Jeremy Allen.”
“I really love you, Tayla McKinnon.”
