Troublemaker (The Men of Matiz 2)

I watch him stroll toward me. "The one where I asked you to marry me?"

"I haven't heard that one yet." I stare at his face as he lowers himself next to me. "You made an offer when I was putting you to bed."

"Was it to sit on my face? That offer lasts forever."

I slap him on the shoulder. "I will take you up on that offer before I go to work."

He looks out at the darkened sky. "Looks like it will be a multi-hour session."

"You remember the offer, don't you?"

He pats his lap. "Sit here with me."

I scoot my panty-covered ass across the couch and settle on his lap, my legs straddling his. "Tell me you remember."

"I wish I could remember that night." He presses his index finger to my lips. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but when you do, I'm here."

"Thank you." I kiss the side of his finger. "It's crept back into my life because of the Hale's babe stuff, but I'm getting stronger. I think it's actually helped me to let go of the pain of that night."

"How so?"

"Whenever I thought back about it, I'd see that younger version of myself who was trying too hard to please her boyfriend. I was willing to sacrifice myself to make him happy. I'm not her anymore. I'm strong. I can handle it. It doesn't define who I am. I get to choose what defines me."

"You're right." He runs his hands over my thighs. "You chose to try an experience. It wasn't what you wanted. That doesn't give anyone the right to say a word to you about it."

"I've cried too many tears about it. I don't want to cry anymore."

He looks down at the sofa. "You were crying about it the night we played Truth or Dare."

I nod. "A man sent me a message online and asked if I'd ever been to the Skyn. He saw the picture of Trey and I at Nova, and he thought he recognized me."

"You were at the club more than that one night, weren't you?"

"A half dozen times," I admit." I was mostly in the main club dancing with my boyfriend at the time. He took me to the back rooms twice. The first time we watched other people. The second time is when you saw me there."

"A face as beautiful as yours is hard to forget."

"You forgot," I say softly.

"The fire was the week before I saw you there." He's quiet for a moment. So am I. "That's not an excuse for not remembering you. It's definitely not an excuse for the rage I was feeling. I helped you because I had to. I saw the cry for your help in your eye, and there was no way in hell I could ignore it."

I trail my fingertips down his cheek. "When I saw you in Vegas that night when you were offering Ellie a job, I recogn

ized you."

The pad of his thumb runs over my bottom lip. "I'll never forgive myself for wasting these two years, but I'll do everything in my power to make the next seventy the best you've ever had."

"Is that how long we'll be together?"

"God willing." He kisses the corner of my mouth. "I'll spend every single one of those days showing you how much I love you."

"Let's start now." I reach to unbutton the white shirt I'm wearing. It's his, of course. The smell of his skin surrounding me is the reason I put it on when I got out of bed.

He flips me over the same way he did the night we played Truth or Dare.

He hovers above me.

"What will it be, Crew? Truth or Dare?"