Until Arden

While working on the pancake batter, Dash leans his hip into mine. “I think we both had reasons to keep our guard up. I could see your pain, and the last thing I wanted to do was add to it, but there was something else. Something about you I couldn’t let go of from the moment I looked into your eyes.”

“So, after all this...” I take a breath and steady myself. “This seems like an odd question to ask given the more important issues going on.” I want to keep rambling to avoid finishing my sentence. “Are you serious about this? Us? Holden?”

Dash sets the bowl aside and moves the hot pan from the burner. “Arden—” He cups my face, swiping his thumb over my cheekbone. “I’m crazy about you, and I don’t want to imagine life without you or Holden.”

“I just...” Tears fall down my face, and I can’t help but think of the past. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes over again.”

“You won’t.” He takes his hands off my face and wraps his arm around my waist. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“And you’re not at all intimidated by the prospect of raising someone else’s son?”

“No.” He lets out a long, slow breath. “I’m grateful to have you both. I’ll leave it up to you and him to determine how you want to define that role, but I’ll love and care for him all the same. And whatever happens we’ll get through it like any other slightly dysfunctional team.”

I cover my face when his words make me snort, and lean into him, laying my head on his chest. “That’s all I need to hear.”

For the first time in my life, I feel free.

When I finally escaped out of Shane's grasp, I'd convinced myself that freedom meant pure independence. Never depending on anyone else. But freedom isn't about doing everything by myself, it's about choosing the people I want to share my life with and being open to share it fully.

I take a deep breath and circle my arms around Dash's waist.

Dash presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I better get to cooking before Holden loses interest in Timber.”