Page 109 of Wilder Love
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you to deal with this—”
“I’m not asking you. I’m telling you. You need to leave.” Her voice was strong, her back ramrod straight and she had that look of defiance in her eyes. Without waiting for my response, she pressed a key on her cell phone.
“Dylan. I need you to come home. It’s important. Please.”
Her mother turned on the waterworks. I rolled my eyes. The woman was so predictable, but this time Remy didn’t fall for it. She didn’t try to comfort her mother. But she was kicking me out. Not happening. I wasn’t going anywhere.
I leaned against the counter, my arms crossed over my chest like I was planning to stay all day. Which I was. And the next day. And the day after that.
“I asked you to leave.”
“Too bad, Firefly. You’re stuck with me. I’m not leaving your side. I get that you feel it’s a family matter. You and Dylan can deal with your mother but I’m going to be here. For you. Whether you like it or not.”
She opened her mouth to protest then closed it and came to stand in front of me. “But I… you heard what I just said… how can we ever… you and I can never get past what happened. It was stupid to think we could.” Her smile was sad.
Oh Firefly. You underestimate us. I’m going to give you one story with a happy ending and that story is ours.
“You’re wrong. I’m with you for better or worse.” I cradled her face in my hands. “I won’t leave you because it gets too hard. Or because we sometimes say things that hurt each other. The past is behind us. We can’t fix it or change it. But we’re not going to let the past destroy our future.”
Her eyes widened, and I heard her intake of breath as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d heard. “You want a future with me?”
“That’s all I want. It’s all I need. Just you.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “So much.”
“Good. Because I love you too. So fucking much.” I was still holding her face in my hands. I rubbed my thumbs over her cheekbones and pressed my lips to her forehead. I wanted to kiss her and carry her out of the kitchen and to the bedroom but that would have to wait. I hadn’t planned to make these proclamations in front of Rae St. Clair, but life didn’t always go to plan so fuck it. I wanted Remy to know what she meant to me. “I don’t want to live another day without you. I never want to say goodbye again.”
She leaned into me and wrapped her arms around my neck, holding on tight. It would have been a touching scene if not for her crazy mother’s crying and the sound of the door banging against the wall. Dylan strode into the kitchen and Remy pulled away, turning to face Dylan, her back leaning against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her to let her know I was planning to keep my promise.
“What happened?” he asked, his eyes darting from me and Remy to his mother who was wiping away her crocodile tears. She stood up and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and shedding fresh tears on his black V-neck.
“You can’t turn me away. I have nowhere to go.” She pulled back and peered at his face, her eyes pleading with him. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Dylan’s face didn’t give a lot away. But his shoulders were rigid with tension and the muscle in his jaw was ticking.
“You have an apartment. I pay for the damn thing. What do you mean you have nowhere to go?” He extricated himself from his mom.
“Wait. You pay for her apartment?Ipay for it,” Remy said.
Dylan sighed and shook his head, dropping his head between his shoulders. I’d never seen him so defeated. “I’m sick of your bullshit. Just so fucking sick of it. I’m done.” He sounded weary and wouldn’t even look at his mother. “Get your shit and leave.”
It took twenty minutes to get Rae out of the house but would have taken a hell of a lot longer if Dylan hadn’t packed her stuff and tossed it in her car, physically removing her from his house. He hadn’t even asked Remy what happened, but he must have known that whatever it was, it had been bad enough for Remy to want her mother gone. Remy and Dylan supported each other and fought for each other, no questions asked. For all the shit they’d gone through in their lives, or maybe because of it, their bond was unbreakable. They would always side with each other.
After Rae left, Dylan, Remy, and I sat down and talked. It was the first time Dylan had ever included me in a family discussion. Progress. I guess he had finally realized I was here to stay.
* * *
“Doyou want to run away with me?” I asked Remy, pulling her back against my chest. Her body fit into the curve of mine and she let out a contented post-orgasmic sigh.
“I’d follow you to the ends of the earth. Where are we going, lover?”
“Tahiti, Bali, Hawaii… anywhere we want.” I kissed her hair. It glowed blue-black in the moonlight coming through my bedroom windows.
“And what will we do in Tahiti, Bali, and Hawaii?” I could tell by her light, teasing tone that she thought I was joking.
“Surf. Live. Love. Take photos. Make surfboards. Chase new dreams. And when we get weary of traveling, we’ll come home.”
She turned to face me, her eyes searching mine in the shadows of my room. “You’re serious.”
I retrieved the ring from my bedside table, took her left hand in mine, and slid it on her finger. Once again, this hadn’t gone to plan. I hadn’t meant to do this at night, in bed, in the dark. But hey, sometimes you just had to be spontaneous. “Will you spend the rest of your life with me, Firefly? Will you be my forever?”
