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“You did what?” she gasps, her jaw becoming slack.
Mickey shrugs. “We’d already talked about how perfect this place would be, so we were going to suggest it in July when their contract ran out.”
I chuckle. “All you did was to move up the timeline, baby.”
She sniffs and averts her gaze to the floor, her shoulders shaking. What the hell? We made her cry, but… why? We did a good thing. This is what Lucia said Gail wanted and needed.
“What did we do wrong?” I ask, panic coating my words. “If you don’t like it, we can go look at Mickey’s house. Or, you can live in mine. Or if you want, we can—”
I’m interrupted by Mickey’s palm connecting with the back of my head. “Shut up,” he laughs. “Just shut the hell up and give her a moment to adjust to all of this.”
Right, right, that sounds sensible.
When Gail raises her head, it’s not anger or disappointment shining through her eyes, it’s adoration and—dare I even think it—love. “You did all of this for me?” She cradles her naked stomach. “For Fet.”
“For our family,” I confirm with a sharp nod.
“For all of us,” Mickey adds.
Gail inhales deeply, and I don’t know if she’s aware she’s rubbing her stomach while she thinks about everything we’ve just said, but I am. The movement of her hand is hypnotizing, soothing—or at least it would be if I didn’t have this pit in the bottom of my stomach.
Feeling like I need to do something, I shift and move closer to her. Then, instead of sitting back down, I kneel in front of her, splaying my hands on her thighs. “Please, baby,” I croak, not caring one bit that I’m about to lay myself even more bare for her. “I know I’ve been a dick, that I’ve hurt you and let you down. But you have to know how much I love you.”
Lifting her hand, she cups my cheek. “I know you do,” she says softly. “And I know you’re sorry. I don’t need…” Trailing off, she looks over my shoulder at Mickey. “Come here.”
He’s quick to join us, pressing a kiss to her thigh as he sits next to where I’m kneeling for her. “I’m here,” he rasps. “I’m always here for you.”
Nodding, she uses her other hand to cup his cheek. “I’m… I thought I was… but I’m not ready to say it back,” she admits, her voice trembling. “But I’m willing to move in here. To try. Is that enough?”
“Yes!” we both exclaim in unison.
Gail slowly slides off the bed, joining us on the floor, and then she wraps us both in a tight hug. Her body shakes against ours, and it takes me a moment to realize she’s crying again. I rub my hand across her back. “Shh, it’s going to be okay.”
“I’ve missed you so much,” she sobs. “I… I don’t ever want to be without you again. Either of you. Do you understand? This is it for me—you’re it for me.”
My throat burns as I listen to her words, and my heart beats faster at the same time. She might not be able to say “I love you” yet, but if this isn’t the same thing, I’m not Soren “The Wall” Taylor.
“I love you so much, baby,” I rasp, taking her face between my hands before descending my lips onto hers in a deep, slow kiss.
“My turn,” Mickey says, pushing me aside so he can rest his forehead against hers. “You’re it for us as well, sweetheart.”
Soren
2 weeks later.
Icatch myself staring at the ceiling, counting the breaths in the stillness of the house. Two weeks. That’s how long it’s been since Gail’s laughter started filling the spacious rooms of this house, her presence weaving into every crevice.
“Thinking hard, or hardly thinking?” Mickey’s voice cuts through the quiet, rough with sleep but laced with a cocky undertone.
“Bit of both,” I admit, rolling my head on the pillow to meet his silver gaze over the top of Gail’s head. “Just mulling over how we’re going to offload our other places once the playoffs wrap up.”
“Ah, the joys of real estate.” Mickey lifts the sheet and peers down at Gail’s naked body that’s nestled between us. Grinning, as he removes the hand that’s been between her thighs all night long. “We’ll get it sorted. We’ve got bigger fish to fry right now,” he says as he licks his fingers clean.
Some days I fucking hate him.
Gail snores softly and turns around in her sleep.
“Like winning the Cup?” I quip.
