The man has it all so fucking wrong.
His fingers brush mine when he places the tape back in my hand.
“I love you, too,” I whisper.
I sigh in relief after saying the words because it feels like a weight has been pried from my chest.
“Fucking scary, huh?” Brooks whispers.
“Terrifying,” I admit.
“Think it will still be worth it?” he asks, his eyes meeting mine.
“Yeah, baby. I do.”
The tape falls from my hand again as he steps into me, but this time we both ignore it.
His lips meet mine, but instead of a violent crash, it’s soft and gentle, although still tinged with the same desperation I feel.
I huff when he urges me to step back, but he protects the back of my head when I meet the wall.
“Fucking missed you so much,” he says, breaking our kiss and burying his face in my neck.
I cling to him, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I hold him against me.
“I love you so fucking much, and I’m so sorry for taking so long to admit it to myself.”
He brushes his lips over mine, groaning when I stroke my hand down the front of his slacks.
He claps my wrist, pulling it away from his body, his eyes locked on mine.
“Before this goes any further, I need to know exactly what this is? I’m tired of us not being on the same page, Archer.”
I swallow, unsure of what to say. He wants my truth, but that doesn’t mean it will line up with his.
“I want you to be mine.”
“I’m yours,” he says easily. “I need to be able to tell the people in my life in my own time.”
I nod, knowing I wasn’t playing when I told him that had to be up to him.
“I need you to be ready because that’s going to be very fucking soon, Archer. I want the world to know we belong to each other.”
I smile, my teeth digging into the corner of my bottom lip to prevent the smile from taking over my entire face.
“Say it again,” I urge.
“We belong—”
“The other thing.”
His warm hands clasp my throat. “I love you.”
He kisses me before I can smile.
“So fucking much,” he whispers against my lips.
He doesn’t stop me this time when I reach for his cock. I work open his slacks as he shoves down the loose sweats on my hips.
I hiss in pleasure when our dicks touch, the warmth of him against me nearly as good as the words I’ve been so greedy to hear him say.
“Jesus,” he pants when I take both of us in hand, stroking our lengths in tandem. “That’s perfect.”
We press our foreheads together, both looking down as I work us into a frenzy.
“Your mouth,” he gasps, and I give my man exactly what he’s begging for.
He grunts the second our lips meet, his warm cum coating my hand. It doesn’t take me long to find my own release, and Brooks swallows my moans, pressing me harder into the wall at my back to keep me from sinking to the floor.
“Not exactly what I had in mind.” He chuckles into my neck.
“Baby, we’re just getting started,” I promise.
Our clothes are left in a scattered trail as we grope and paw at each other on the way to my bedroom.
“Shower,” I offer once we’re both naked and once again panting.
He shakes his head as he lowers to his knees. I moan with need as he licks my abs and the combination of our cum there.
“Now we can shower,” he whispers, his tongue snaking out to swipe at my cock.
I cup his face in my hands as he stands, taking a long moment just to look into his eyes as my thumbs stroke his cheeks.
“This is real?”
“So fucking real. You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“Never,” I promise, leaning forward to take his mouth in a slow kiss.
I pull back, only going as far as his grip on my hips will allow.
“I won the bet.”
His face falls, his throat working. “The bet?”
I can see the pain the second it hits his eyes, and I know he doesn’t remember. He’s worrying that I’m playing some kind of trick on him.
“In the park,” I remind him. “I said you were going to fall madly in love with me.”
He smiles, the sight of it easily my most favorite thing in the world.
“Do you remember the wager?”
“I’m not upset I didn’t win a million dollars.” He brushes his lips over mine. “You’re priceless, Archer Bremen.”
I step in closer to him. “I’m still not letting you out of the deal.”
“Remind me what it was again,” he says, his finger tracing my abdomen.
His touch is nearly enough to halt all speech.
“You have to do everything I want for an entire day.”
A slow smile tugs up the corners of his mouth. “Can we start now?”
I shake my head. “Soon.”