Tied Bond (Bonded Duet 2)

I chuckled and pressed closer to her, loving the way her body fit perfectly against mine. We were two jigsaw pieces, destined to live interlocked, our picture not whole unless we were together. “I’ve learned many things over the last year. I learned I loved you. I learned I can’t live without you. But most of all, I learned that when it comes to you, Baby Belle, nothing is soon enough. I’ll throw you over my shoulder and kidnap you if I have to because I’m not sure I can spend another night without you by my side.”

“Ford…”

“Move in with me, Belle. Let’s be a family.”

A lone tear trickled down her cheek, and I was afraid I’d been too forward, too fast, but when she whispered, “Okay,” I knew I hadn’t.

“Okay?” I asked, afraid I’d imagined her saying it.

She lifted up onto her tiptoes and pressed closer to me, her lips centimeters from mine. “Yes, Ford. We’ll move in with you.” She jerked forward but stopped at the last second. “You’re gonna have to help me tell Mom and Dad, though.”

My stomach dropped, but as she placed her lips against mine, the feeling vanished altogether. Nothing would stop me from having Belle at my side, in my bed, and sharing my home with me, not even her overprotective dad. I envisioned a battle ahead, but the battle would be worth it so we could win the war.

* * *

BELLE

“So let me get this straight,” Asher started, stretching his legs out on my bed as I dressed Leo. “You went on a first date, and he asked you to move in with you?”

I rolled my eyes, sick of hearing the same thing over and over again. It had been two days since I’d stayed at Ford’s, and we’d figured out what we were, and where we were going from here, and I’d been flying high since then. At least, I was until my mom tried to tell me I couldn’t move out. She’d forgotten I was a twenty-one-year-old adult somewhere along the line, but once I’d reminded her, she gave in. Well, if storming out of the room and not talking to me since yesterday morning was her giving in, then yeah, she gave in.

Ford had told me to let her be and to give her time, so I’d listened to him, and watched my dad as he narrowed his eyes at Ford before following after Mom. I had no doubt he’d say something to Ford when I wasn’t around. Dad had an opinion on everything, so there was no way he’d keep quiet about this.

“Yes, Asher.” I clipped the snaps closed on Leo’s onesie. “He asked me to move in with him. But what you’re all forgetting is we’ve kind of been together for nearly a year now.”

Asher pushed his hand through his dark-brown hair. “Yeah, but—”

“Also.” I picked Leo up and smiled at him. “I present you with exhibit A.” I raised a brow and looked at Asher. “The baby we made together.”

Asher snorted. “That’s a pretty solid argument.” He reached for Leo, and I handed him over. “I suppose we can’t put up a defense against that.”

I shook my head and stood, reaching for my brand-new jeans. I’d given up on the idea of fitting into my old ones, so the only option was new clothing. “You’d be correct.” A knock on the front door had my stomach dipping and my eyes widening. “That’s him.”

“Jeez, Belle. You’re acting like a lovesick teenager.” I stuck my tongue out at Asher and shooed him off my bed. “Get out so I can get changed. Otherwise, we’ll be late for your fight.”

Asher grinned so wide he showed all of his white teeth. “I can’t wait for tonight.” He glanced down at Leo. “Uncle Asher is gonna kick some booty and take names.” He held Leo’s back against his chest so they were both facing me. “You’re gonna be in the front row, right, sis?”

“Yep.” I tried not to cringe at the idea of being in the front row. I hadn’t watched one of Asher’s MMA fights for a couple of years, and Mom had stopped going around that time too because she said they were too violent for her to watch. I understood what she meant, but I needed to be there for Asher, just like he had been there for me. From the moment I’d come home, he’d dropped everything so he could spend time with me. He’d made me feel like me again, and it seemed like an impossible task to thank him for that.

Asher left my bedroom, and a second later, I could hear Ford talking to Leo. Things were moving fast, I just wasn’t sure if it was too fast. I’d been in shock when Ford asked me to move in with him, but my gut had told me to say yes, and I’d learned to listen to my gut lately. Besides, it made no sense for me to be living at home, not if we’d be together, and e

specially not with Leo being so tiny. There were only so many times I could ask Mom if she could watch Leo at four in the morning so I could get a couple hours of sleep.

But what if we were getting ahead of ourselves? What if something happened and we didn’t work out? Living together was a whole different story, but as I sat on the edge of my bed, I realized we’d already kind of lived together in my college apartment. The only difference then was we’d been a secret. But now we were open and honest with everyone. Out in the open for everyone to see. It could only make things better, right?

Footsteps pounded on the stairs as I pulled my leggings off, and I rolled my eyes. It was probably Asher forgetting something. I’d never known anyone to forget things the way he did. If his head wasn’t attached to his body, he’d forget about it. I lifted my arms and pulled my T-shirt off, leaving me in my underwear, and just as I was about to pull my “TEAM ASHER” tank over my head, my bedroom door flung open.

I threw my arms over my chest, trying to conceal myself against the intruder. “What the—”

“Well, hey there,” a deep voice greeted, and I shook my head at it. I should have known it was him.

“What are you doing?” I asked, keeping my hand over my chest. He’d seen it all before, but the door was still partially open, and my mom was downstairs pacing the length of the house, something Asher said she’d taken to doing about eighteen months ago whenever he had a fight.

“Coming to say hi,” Ford said smoothly, closing the door behind him. He pushed his hands into the front pockets of his dark-blue jeans and leaned against the back of the door. My room was full of boxes half-packed, our move-in date set for next week, and he glanced over them all, then stared back at me.

“Hi.” I stood. “I’m getting dressed.”

Ford raised his brow, his gaze tracking the length of me, and goose bumps spread over my skin. “I’d prefer to watch you get undressed.”