And then I remembered all the things she’d said to me about her past and Kyle’s place in it. Like it or not, he’d played a big part of who she was, so I needed to let her talk to him if she felt she needed to for the sake of closure and all that. Only my stomach was rolling at the thought of him convincing her to stay.

I looked around the apartment they'd shared and found it hollow. Perfect—like out of a magazine. So perfect, as if no one lived there. Her beach house was so much more her; it looked like whoever lived here was void of personality. I couldn’t even pick out what might be Georgia’s. I took a few steps farther into the living room and my eyes landed on the mantle with framed pictures: her and Kyle together, Drew and Silas in college, the four of them, a young couple with a baby in their arms. I squinted and held the last picture up; it looked like the baby could be Georgia, presumably with her parents. She was a sweet baby with the roundest cheeks I’d ever seen. Chubby legs and a shock of dark hair. Her mom’s bright smile mirrored her own. She was the spitting image of her mother, except for her eyes. Her dad had shocking dark eyes and heavily lined eyelashes. He sat on a bench, his wife at his side, a protective arm wrapped around her shoulder and a squirming baby Georgia in her arms. So unaware of the pain that would hit them nearly a decade later. A night when Georgia’s parents would be ripped from her life.

“I’m not doing this with you, Kyle.” Georgia stomped out of the room, cat still in her arms. “Hang onto her.” She thrust the cat in my hands. Diva looked up at me, eyes narrowed. I was sure the cat was glaring at me. Maybe she smelled Charlie and wasn’t impressed.

Georgia stomped back to the room she’d just exited and I heard a bang and heated whispers before I walked after her. I knew Kyle was fucking with her head, trying to cajole her, guilt-trip her, do anything he could to get her to stay, but my girl was going home with me.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I heard her bite out. I dashed into the bedroom and found her shoving him away from her body, a suitcase and a duffle bag at her feet. My eyes flared and my jaw clenched when he tried to go back to her, his eyes pleading.

“Baby, come on; this is you and me. Don’t let whatever you think you have with him get in the way of us. I know his type; he won’t be around for long, Georgia. It’s always been us.”

“You need to shut the fuck up.” I glared as I stepped closer to them, Diva still in one arm, my other fist clenched.

“Back the fuck off; you don’t even know her. Who do you think has had her from the beginning? She’s not leaving me, man. Georgia won’t leave me. She’s too fucking scared of the unknown to leave,” he sneered at me. I pulled my arm back, cat in one hand, arm cocked in the other, ready to land a blow to his smug face, when Georgia’s fist shot into my line of vision and landed on Kyle's cheekbone. He spun and looked at her, eyes wide with shock.

“What the fuck, Georgia?” he roared as his other hand grabbed at her neck.

Oh, fuck no.

“Get your fucking hands off her.” I barreled, shoving him away before landing a fist square on his nose. He spun and landed on the floor, his hand cupping his face and blood pooling in his fingers. With Diva still perched in my arms, a front row seat to the destruction, I leaned over Kyle and landed two more blows to his jaw and his cheekbone in quick succession.

“Fuck, get off me. Are you crazy?” Kyle screamed as blood splattered.

“You touched her. Don’t do it again. Ever. Don’t fucking touch her. Don’t fucking call her. And don’t think you’ll ever fucking see her again.” I landed one more blow and his eye started swelling immediately.

“Get some shit, Georgia. I’ll hire someone to come back and get anything else.” I pulled her out of the room by the arm. She yanked out of my grip, ran to Kyle, and landed one swift kick in his gut.

“Fuck!” He hunched over painfully.

“Asshole,” she sneered. That was my girl. So fucking hot when she was pissed. She grabbed a bag and threw personal items into it. She sprinted into the living room and pulled picture frames off the mantel, leaving the ones of her and Kyle.

“I’m done; let’s go.” She finally looked at me.

“Just remember.” Kyle leaned against the doorframe, hand still cupping his nose, blood dripping down his shirt. “I had her first and I’ll have her last. Don’t forget that.” His eyes cut from me to her, a sickening sneer on his face. His words felt like a threat as much as a statement.

“Fuck off,” Georgia shot at him before she grabbed my hand and we walked out the door, leaving it swinging on the hinges.



“Jesus, are you okay?” Georgia wet a napkin with water and swiped blood off my face while Diva meowed obnoxiously from the backseat. We were stopped at a Starbucks parking lot a few blocks from her old apartment.

“I’m great.” I grinned and caught her wrist in my hand and pulled her lips to mine. “So fucking hot,” I whispered.

“What?” She pulled away, her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“You know how hot it makes me when you’re angry, babe. You kicked his ass. You threw the first punch. I’m hard as a fucking rock right now.”

“Tristan.” She giggled before I pulled her to me again. I pressed her lips to mine, pulling her into my lap, desperate to take her right here, regardless of who could see.

“Move in with me,” I breathed between kisses.

“What?” Her chest heaved with pants. I’d stolen her breath from kissing her. I wanted to steal her heart too. I hadn’t thought about asking her to move in with me before the words came out of my mouth. But there they were and I didn’t regret them.

“Move in with me.” I nipped at her lips again as my hands went up her shirt to knead her breasts.

“You’re crazy.” She pushed my hands out of her shirt.

“Crazy for you,” I flirted.

“And corny.” She rolled her eyes.

“Move in with me. My place is smaller, easier to maintain, plus you’re renting the beach house out in the spring, right? Let’s get you moved in now, then you can list the house.” This idea was sounding better and fucking better the more I attempted to convince her.

Her eyes searched my face, I was assuming to look for any ounce of hesitation on my part. She wouldn't find it.

“You wanna live with me?” she murmured, her eyes all hooded and sexy again.

I held her tightly to me, caressing her back with an open palm. “Absolutely.”

“But I snore.”

“Not any louder than I do.”

“And I steal the covers,” she whispered.

“Don’t need any. Having your hot body wrapped around mine is heat enough.”

“So fucking corny.” She rolled her eyes again and I tilted my head and took her lips with mine.

I kissed her and ran my hands up her back, grinding my hips into hers as she fisted her hands in my hair and arched her body against mine. “Say yes,” I murmured.

“Yes,” she breathed and I took her lips again because she was one step closer to being mine forever.

11

“So then she hauls back and lands a kick right to his gut,” I gushed as Gavin and I sat in the living room, drinking beer. The Disney Christmas Day Parade played on the TV screen in front of us—something Georgia insisted on watching. While I teased her about it relentlessly, secretly I thought it was utterly adorable.