Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

2 Days Later

I had barely moved from the bed since we came home that night, choosing to stay safe and cocooned in our own little world.

A new world where there was no guilt, no secrets, no threats.

Just us.

We had only gone out for more food because our plans included staying in bed for a few more days. I walked up the stairs heading to our apartment and froze as I reached the door.

Our apartment.

Jax ran into my back at my sudden stop. “What are you doing? I would carry you, but my hands are full.”

“Our apartment,” I said, repeating the words outloud.

“Yes, it’s the one right there with the dirty paw print on the door now, thanks to Riot,” he mumbled. “You okay?”

“In my head, I called it our apartment. Not your apartment.”

He groaned and moved around me to open the door. “I’m glad you finally caught up. Does this mean you’re done fighting it and planning to stay for good now?”

“Was that an invitation?”

He walked in, leaving me in the hall as Riot came running out to greet us.

“I think I’ve given you a thousand invitations at this point. Do you need it in writing?”

I smirked, stepping inside and setting my bags down. “That might help, although I don’t know how I’m ever going to believe I truly got this lucky in life.”

“I agree. I don’t know how I got so lucky to find you,” he said, coming around to wrap his arms around me. He kissed me hard before I pulled back.

“When did you decide that you liked me?” I asked.

“Do you want the romantic answer? Or the honest answer?”

“Honest, obviously.”

“The morning I woke up and saw you there scowling in my shirt. It felt like home, like everything I’ve ever wanted. I mean, I already thought I did, but at that moment, I knew I liked you.”

“That was the romantic answer?”

“No, the romantic answer would be, from the second I met you, I was in love.”

“So your honest answer isn’t that it was the second we met, but pretty close?”

“Yeah. Might as well get used to the ‘second I met you story’ because I’ll be telling our kids that one like a thousand times.”

“Jax!”

“To soon? Fine, I’ll only talk about marrying you then.”

“Jax!”

“What? That can’t be a crime to talk about.”

“A crime? No. A little premature? Yes.”

At the word crime, I thought through everything we went through. Everything we had to do to get us to this point. There would never be a way I could show Jax how much I did love him. Or even how thankful I was for what he had done for me, but I wasn’t mad at the thought of trying to show him what I felt every day.

He laughed, kissing my head. “Fine, then we can leave it at welcome home. Your home. Our home. The exact place you belong. Where Riot belongs. I have loved you even on the days you didn’t want me to, and I will keep loving you every single day of our lives.”

“I want to roll my eyes and tell you to stop with the romantics, but it does actually make me feel better.”

“Roll your eyes and give me that scowl. I will still tell you all the romantic things every single day.”

I huffed, pulling out of his arms and grabbing his hand.

“What are you doing?” He asked, with a quiet laugh.

“Bringing you to bed.”

“What about cooking the food?” He asked.

“It can wait until after,” I said.

“After what?”

I looked back at him, watching his smile grow as he tried to fight it.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said.

“Yeah, but I just like hearing all the dirty details from you.” I turned, kissing him as we fell back onto the bed. He stopped, his perfect blue eyes staring into mine.

“I love you,” he said.

“Love you too, Sunshine.”

“Now you did it,” he said, pulling off my shirt. “You know what happens now.”

And I did.

Jax was going to show me exactly how much he loved me.