Love You Better (Better Love 1)

“Oh my gosh, I have to call Jacob! And Mom! And your mom! I have to call Dr. Joyner! I have to tell Bailey and Jesse!” Ivy makes for the door, but I wrap my arm around her waist and stop her.

“Baby, you can’t go out there yet. You’re naked.”

“Oh.” She stifles a laugh. “Whoops.”

The energy in the room is buzzing as we hurriedly throw on our clothes, and the smile hasn’t left Ivy’s face the whole time, but when she goes to open the door, her hand pauses on the knob.

“Kelley?”

“Ivy.” I ha

ve a feeling I know what she’s about to say, and my stomach erupts with fucking butterflies.

“What would you say if I asked you to come with me? To move to Chicago?” Her voice is quiet, hopeful but nervous.

“I’d say we’d need to get used to disappointment,” I state seriously and lean on the wall next to her. I wait just a breath—long enough for her to hear me, but too quick for her to jump to conclusions—before adding, “because I hear being a Bears fan is fucking brutal.”

Her eyes whip to mine and she takes in my stupid grin. “What?” she asks, a smile taking over her face, dimple popping back out in all its glory. “Does that mean you’ll come with me?”

I grab her hips and pull her to me, lowering my forehead so it rests on hers. “I’ll go anywhere and everywhere with you, Ivy Jean Rivenbark. As long as you’ll have me, I’ll be there.”

She kisses me with a fierceness I used to be too scared to even dream about. She kisses me with passion and reverence and promise. She kisses me like a woman in love, and fuck if I don’t try to give it back just like she deserves.

“I love you so, so much, Kelley,” she whispers against my lips, and I smile.

“I love you back, Ivy Bean.”

“We’re moving to Chicago together,” she says excitedly.

“Together,” I repeat, and I press another kiss to her lips.

Because I’m proud of her, and because she’s mine, and because I can. The reality still sends chills of elation through me—Ivy Rivenbark is mine. She loves me. She chose me.

I meant it when I said I’m going to love her better than anyone else can. Every day, for the rest of my life, and I’m fucking lucky to do it.

Thank you so much for picking up Love You Better. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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Want a sneak peek of what’s to come? Flip a few more pages for a look at Bailey’s book, Better With You, out Fall 2021!

Prologue

Betrayal. Hatred. Despair. Guilt.

I’m seeing red. I want to scream. On the inside, I’m a mess.

I keep my face neutral, fight to keep my breathing steady, but all I can see is the date on the calendar. All I can think of is the deadline I won’t reach, and the promise I’m going to have to break.

I let my guard down. I let someone in. And in doing so, I let him down. The only person worthy of everything good, and I’ve let him down. Again.

Tears burn the backs of my eyelids, welling up and threatening to spill, but I won’t let them fall. I’ve had years of practice turning my outside to stone.

The man beside me shifts, and I can feel his gaze on me. His pleading gaze with his dark, chocolate brown eyes. I see his hands moving in my peripheral, his big fingers fidget, and despite his size, the movement is delicate. I know how those hands feel on my skin. I know how soft his touch can be.

I try to fight it, the way my heart clenches and aches. I try to focus on my anger, on the betrayal. I try to keep my sadness for the boy I’ve failed.

But deep down, I know the truth.