Page 83 of Forget Me Not
She slumped forward, rolling to his uninjured side.
With a kiss on her forehead, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, her nails drawing lazy circles on his skin.
“I love you, Bambi.”
With a satisfied hum, she nuzzled into him. He reached up, fingers sliding over hers until he reached her tattooed ring.
“Does it bother you?” she whispered.
“No,” he replied without hesitation. “Neither do the pictures. I would never ask you to put them away, or to get rid of this,” he tapped her finger, “you love him, and I would never ask you to stop.”
“I loveyou,”her voice warbled.
“And I know that you can love us both. I’m grateful for all the time you had together, all the years he kept you happy and safe. I am forever sorry that he was taken from you, but I’m not sorry that it means, I’m yours now.”
“Mine?”
“Yours,” he confirmed with a kiss to the tip of her nose before rolling up and off the island, staggering a step because of the pants still around his knees.
Syve giggled and Bas glared playfully at her as he kicked free of his jeans, then he grabbed her by the ankles, dragging her to the edge of the table. He tossed her over his shoulder, nibbling her ass cheek as he dashed up the stairs, her squeals echoing off the walls the entire way.
“You have your phone? And you have our numbers written down in case you lose your phone? Who did you list as an emergency contact—you did list an emergency contact, right?”
“Mama, I have everything. I’ve had your numbers memorized for years, and I listed four emergency contacts. You, Bastien, Cyrus and Syve.” Del turned to where Bas stood with Syve, a giant smile plastered on her face.
Eyes shining, Syve smiled back at his little sister.
Cyrus slammed the hood shut on the white Range Rover and wiped his hands on a rag as he walked over to where Del was hugging their mother.
“Alright, Princess.” He pulled a key ring from his pocket, holding it up in front of her. “She’s all yours. Congrats on getting into college. Go show all those snotty rich kids you’re smarter than all of them.”
Eyes bugging out of her skull, Del squeaked, “What? But that’s your car!”
“Not as of five minutes from now. You just have to sign the title and Syve can notarize it. I’ve sold it to you for one whole dollar.”
It was Bastien’s turn to balk, he glanced between Cyrus and Syve to see the latter pulling a pen and a stamp out of her back pocket.
“Sneaky,” he whispered, and she winked in return.
“But my stuff—”
“I brought down to load up for you. In your car,” Cy finished.
Completely sobbing by this point, Del jumped up to hug him, blubbering her thanks into his neck. When she finally released the poor man, she moved down the line to say goodbye to everyone else.
Syve hugged her tightly, both women whispering to each other through their tears.
Bastian was next.
“Brother.”
“Bug.” He pulled her in, squeezing her as much as he could without hurting her. “I am so proud of you, Delanira. I love you.”
“I love you too, Bastien. Take care of Mama for me, and be good to Syve. I’ll be home for Christmas.”
Then she was in the car, driving down the road while they stood waving in the driveway, Syve squeezing his hand.
Be good to her?
