Grip Trilogy Box Set

Bristol’s laugh this time is a humorless huff of air.

“That would be an interesting development since she can’t stand me.”

“She’ll come around, baby. She has to. She’s just recalibrating her expectations. Like I’m sure your mom is doing.”

Bristol shrugs one shoulder. Sending one side of the dress down her arm and leaving her shoulder bare.

“What your mother said last night about what you’re giving up to be with me, to not be with Parker.”

“What about it?” She doesn’t know where I’m heading.

“Billions, babe.” I kiss the top of her head, cupping the back and tugging my fingers through the soft strands. “It’s a lot, right?”

She’s silent for a few seconds before she glances up at me through her long lashes. Her fingers drift to the necklace I noticed last night. The thick gold bar hangs from the chain. It’s obviously fine craftsmanship.

“You admired my necklace last night,” she says. “But you didn’t read the inscription.”

I study her face while I lift the gold bar and turn it over.

Etched into the gold is the inscription “My heart broke loose on the wind.”

For a second, the space of a heartbeat, I can’t breathe. This means so much to me I literally cannot breathe.

“When did you get this?” My voice is hushed, reverent with the thought of what that night on the Ferris wheel must have meant to her, too.

“Months ago.” She cups one side of my face. “We didn’t even seem to be a possibility when I ordered this.”

“But why . . . even then?”

Months ago, Bristol was deep freezing me, so it’s hard to imagine that night was on her mind then. That I was on her mind then.

“Even if we hadn’t gotten together, I was still going to wear this next to my heart because I knew I would never love anyone else that way.” She shakes her head, eyes bright with conviction. “Not the way I felt that night. That night was awesome, magical, but it was just a glimpse of the man you would become. And I knew even if I couldn’t have you, I’d carry this piece of you with me. This piece of your prophecy.”

That poem inspired me in a way I have only ever put into words for one person. The woman sitting in my lap. The woman who has held my heart for years when I wasn’t sure she even wanted it. And the whole time, this night, these moments, burned in her memory like they did mine. I’m torn between spreading her on the table and having my appetizer before the pizza arrives, or kissing her until she’s limp in my arms. Before I get the chance to do either, the buzzer sounds.

“Pizza,” we say together with grins.

“I’ll get my wine,” she says. “And your beer.”

I clear my throat of the emotion still clogging it.

“Sounds good.” I take one more look at her, how naturally she fits here, but she’d fit anywhere I was, and I’ll fit any place she’ll be. I guess we’ll spend the rest of our lives chasing each other.

And getting caught every night.

I swing open the door, cash tip already in hand, but it isn’t the pizza guy.

“Officers.” I suppress the Pavlovian response. Obviously they’re here for a reason, and I’ve done nothing wrong, so I’ll just wait to hear them out. “What can I do for you?”

There’s no answer from either of them, and they look like undertakers.

“Something wrong?” I ask.

“We um, need to search the property.” One of them flashes his badge, and I note the name Officer Mars.

“Search?” I frown and glance over my shoulder into the loft. “For what exactly?”

“What’s this about?” Bristol comes to stand beside me, hands already on her hips.