Page 87 of Split You Open

When I exhale, Blair does too.

“Despite all of Ledger’s scheming, he couldn’t control this,” I tell her.

“This?”

I lean down and claim her lips fully. A deep, hearty groan works its way through me when her hand comes to rest right over my heart. When I break the kiss, I’m embarrassed to admit I’m trembling.

Smiling, I tell Blair, “He couldn’t have predicted how good we’d fit together.”

“But he said⁠—”

“I know,” I interrupt gently. “But there was no guarantee you would give me a piece of your heart. And Ledger knew I wasn’t searching for anything or anyone. This wasn’t his doing, it was ours.”

A shiver rushes through Blair. With her leaning against me, I feel it. Her eyelashes flutter and the smallest of smiles pulls at the corners of her lips.

“I love you,” I tell her solemnly.

That smile grows incrementally. “I love you, too.”

I let go of her and she leans against me, tucking her head beneath my chin. Plucking the empty mug from her hand, I place it on the nightstand and then wrap both arms around her waist.

Before I can say anything else, the door bursts open, startling us both. I tense, twisting with Blair to put myself between her and the door. At the same time, Blair reaches for a gun on her hip that isn’t there.

“Blair!” Santiago calls out anxiously as he barges into the room. “Oops, sorry.”

I relax with a long sigh and lean back against the headboard. It takes a few seconds longer for Blair to unwind. Santiago takes a running leap for the bed. He jumps, soaring parallel to the floor, to flop onto his stomach at the foot of the bed. He bounces once then gives us a cheeky smile as he says, “Cinnamon roll.”

Blair chuckles, the sound strained. “Santi, you’re supposed to say that before entering a room. I nearly shot you the first time you did that.”

He crawls the short distance the rest of the way up the bed then tries to climb into my lap to join Blair. I push him off with a growl.

“Get off me. This lap is for this beautiful woman only.”

Santi pouts, his bottom lip jutting as he glares at me. “Favoritism isn’t a good look, Wes. I should have just as much lap time with you as Blair does.”

“Not going to happen.”

“B-but…” Santi pouts. “Your lap is big enough to hold both of us!”

I scoff. “No, it’s not.”

Blair giggles at our short back and forth. The sound is soft and short-lived but it’s a good sign.

Santi comes to sit so close that his side is pressed up against Blair’s. He reaches up and holds the back of her neck and leans forward into her face.

“None of what that asshole said changes anything, you know that, right?”

Before Blair can respond, he leans forward and kisses her hard on the mouth. When he pulls away, he scowls at her.

“Tell me you understand.”

Blair opens her mouth but then he swoops in again and kisses her, this one lasting a little longer. Santi pulls back, his face turning red as his scowl deepens.

“Cariño, tell me!”

He leans in to kiss her again, but I grab his face and push him back. Santi grabs my wrist and yanks his head back to glare at me.

“What the hell?”