“I realized that you already have me. You’re it for me.” Taking my face in his hands, he wipes my tears away. “I’m in love with you, Ly. I have been for a long time. It just took me a while to realize it. And when I did, I realized that my fears don’t mean shit anymore. In that moment, staring at you across the street, seeing you standing there, I knew…you kicked me on my ass. In that moment, I knew I would do anything to take away the hurt I caused you. I would give up everything, including myself, for you…because I would rather have a moment of everything with you than a lifetime of nothing.”

Oh my God.

He’s in love with me?

I’m choked with tears, stunned at his confession. “You love me?” I whisper.

He presses his forehead to mine, a smile touching the edges of his lips. “I love you.”

The words whisper over my skin, seeping into my heart, filling it…completing it.

“Ly…” He takes a deep breath. “I know I have no right to ask…but I need to know if you still feel the same. Or have I screwed things up? Have I lost you?”

I close my eyes on a blink. My mind is running at the speed of light. I’m trying to grab on to something, anything…

Anger. Pain. Want. Need.

I could argue and fight this, fight how I feel for him. I could walk away because of a mistake he made when we weren’t together.

Or I can forgive him. Put it behind us and let us start from now.

I’m working toward forgiving Dex for what he did to me. The least I can do is try the same for Tom.

I open my eyes. “I’m in love you, Tom. That doesn’t stop just because you act like a dick.”

He moves his forehead down, his nose moving over my skin, as he breathes me in. “I am a dick.”

“Yeah, you are. The biggest dick ever. And I don’t mean that in a flattering way.”

He lets out a soft chuckle. “So…I haven’t lost you?”

“No, you haven’t lost me.”

“Thank God.” His arms come around me, his face buried in my neck. I feel the relief in his body. I hear it in his breaths.

And that’s when I realize just how much I mean to Tom.

The knowledge soaks into every part of me, warming me.

Lifting his head, he slides his fingers around the nape of my neck and up into my hair. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear,” he whispers the promise over my lips.

“I know.” I press my hand to his face.

“I’m nothing without you, Ly. I just don’t work without you. You’ve broken me.” He smiles. “You are everything to me, and I will spend the rest of my life showing you that you didn’t make the worst mistake of your life by falling in love with a mut like me.”

“You’re not a mut. You’re an ex-mut.”

“An ex-mut. I like it. Makes me sound badass.”

“You’re an idiot.” I laugh, slapping his chest.

“And you’re beautiful.”

Then, his hands are on my ass, and he picks me up off the floor, causing me to squeal in surprise. I wrap my legs around his waist.

“I seriously fucking love you, Lyla Summers.”

“Good, because I seriously fucking love you, Thomas Carter.” I trace my fingers over the stubble on his jaw. “But the beard has gotta go.”

He grins. “Whatever you want, darlin’.”

Then, he kisses me. A breath-stealing, toe-curling kiss. I can feel Tom pouring everything into this kiss…all of himself into this one kiss…showing me with his body how much he really does love me.

“So, it’s been two weeks,” he says, coming up for air. “That’s twenty-eight orgasms I owe you on top of the rest still outstanding.”

I bite my lip in thought. “We don’t have that long. I have to pick up Aunt Steph and Uncle Paul from the airport in a few hours and take them to see Dex.”

“So, we’d better get started.” He carries me over to the sofa, taking us both down to it. He slips his hand up my top. “And I’ll come with you to pick them up. Meet your family.”

He wants to meet my family? This will be a big thing, especially for someone like Tom.

“Are you sure you want to meet my family? It’s not too soon?”

His hand stops on its path to my boob. “I already met your brother.”

“And you punched him.”

He gives a slip of a grin. “In my defense, he did deserve to be punched.”

“Yes…he did,” I agree.

“So, can I meet your family if I promise not to punch your uncle?”

“I’m happy for you to meet my family.” I giggle as his fingers whisper over my ribcage, tickling me. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured. Meeting the family is a big thing.”

“Nothing is too big when it comes to you.” His mouth drops to mine, his lips brushing gently over mine. “Don’t you get it yet?”

I slide my arms around his neck, winding my fingers into his hair. My heart is so full of everything…full of him.

“Get what?” I whisper.

His eyes stare deep into mine. “That this is it…you and me…we’re forever. You’re my heaven, Firecracker.”

One Week Later—A Huge House, Littleborough, England

“…the luckiest man in the world to have her here with me right now. I’m even luckier that she agreed to marry my sorry ass.”