“Of course it’s a yes.”
Wrapping his arm around the back of my neck, he pulled me in and kissed me hard.
“Thank you for being my future, baby.”
Glancing down at the painting, I bit my lip when it hit me what it was. “Thank you for painting our future and jinxing us. And you thought being Jinx was bad luck.”
When he tipped his head back and burst out laughing, a feeling settled deep into my bones. Happiness, with no shadows, no fear, and nothing holding us back. “That picture’s totally getting framed and hung up on the wall in our bedroom.”
We might run out of space for everything at this rate, but I wanted all the memories in front of me, so I didn’t care if they covered every inch of the house.
Epilogue
Sienna
Three years later…
Walking up behind my husband, I looked down at the tattoo on his side for the millionth time. He’d had it done two years after the incident, and a year on, the power and beauty of it still left me breathless.
His was the same one he’d done for me on my side, except the waves on Jordan’s were highlighted by the sunset, the color of it the exact same as my hair. And I know it was the same because I’d had to hold my head next to pot after pot, as Blaze tried mixing shades of yellow, orange, and red together until he’d gotten it right.
The finished tattoo was beautiful, and I loved it as much as I loved my own. In fact, I’d gotten Jordan to add a green to mine, the same color as his eyes, on the same day he’d had his done. I loved it even more now.
Wrapping my arm around his waist from behind, I placed the stick on the counter in front of him while he rinsed his toothbrush off before dropping it in the cup.
With my eyes shut and my lips pressed against his spine, I felt it the moment he realized what he was looking at.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Apparently,” I whispered, feeling the tears I’d been fighting against ever since I’d seen the results wetting his back.
“Jesus Christ,” he rasped, gripping my wrist with his hand. “Fuck me.”
“Are you happy?”
Spinning around, he dropped down to his knees and pressed his forehead against my stomach. “I’m happy. So fucking happy, I can’t even find the words for it.”
My badass, tattooed biker on his knees, struggling to find the words for his happiness, made the tears fall faster. He was my strength and my tower in everything, but in this, I’d be the one who was his. It didn’t happen often, but that’s what made us so perfect for each other—the ability to hold each other up whenever it was needed.
“Years ago, our paths split off in different directions. When they came back together, I never expected we’d get to this point in our lives until the first time you told me you loved me.”
Looking to the side, I added, “Well, I might have hoped it’d happen before that, but hearing those words changed it from the ceramic of my hope, to a knowledge made from steel.”
“I knew I loved you the moment you came in to get your tattoo,” he mumbled against the skin, kissing the ink gently. “I just didn’t realize the feelings had started over a decade before that day.”
“I’ve got you beat. I knew I loved you the moment you turned around and smiled excitedly at me in art class about an assignment we’d been given. I just didn’t realize I’d ever have the ability to love you.”
Tilting his head back, he directed the full force of his green eyes on me. “I’m jinxed. It’s going to be a girl, I just know it.”
Running my fingers through his hair, I grinned down at him. “Why’s that a problem?”
“Because she’s going to turn out like Maddie, Mom, Faith, or Rose, and I’m going to need another fifty dogs to keep her safe. Maybe even an emotional support dog to keep my sanity safe, too.”
He was full of shit. He loved all of them, and if it was a girl and she turned out like them, he’d probably laugh every day for the rest of his life with her antics. But I’d have to make sure he didn’t get more dogs. The five we had now were enough, and we’d been lucky they’d all gotten along from the moment they’d met.
More dogs equaled more poop to pick up in the yard, and after I’d stood in it barefoot last week, I wasn’t keen on the prospect of that happening again.
“If you think you’re getting more dogs, Mr. Quinn, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Giving my stomach one last kiss before he stood up, he cupped my face in his large, talented hands. “If you think I’m not getting more, you’re sorely mistaken, Mrs. Quinn. I’ve seen the damage Maddie can do to a man, and if our daughter turns out like her, I’m thinking it’ll keep both her and them safe.”