Page 114 of Contentious

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gazing into her expressive eyes, Carson was fully aware that his entire life was spinning out of control and could never be put back together the way it’d been before—and he wasn’t doing a damned thing to stop it.

“‘Everything’ is a big word,” Cresley said tentatively.

“It’s a big change. You and Ty have made me want something that I thought wasn’t for me. And in case you’re wondering, I was already wanting it before I got stabbed. But coming pretty close to dying helps to bring some perspective. We think we’ve got all the time in the world to figure out our crap, so it’s a shock to find out that isn’t true.”

“It was a shock for me, too, how you went from perfectly fine to fighting for your life in a matter of seconds… I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from the sight of you lifeless and covered in blood.” She shuddered, as she had every time that horrifying image popped into her mind.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that. I hope we can replace that memory with much better ones and that over time you won’t think of it that much.”

She moved her head so she could see his face. “That’d be good. But you’re talking about over time…”

He grinned. “You caught that, huh?”

“I did.”

“I was thinking that maybe you might want to take on a massive project and show him what it’s like to be in a… um…”

“A relationship?” she asked, her lips quivering with amusement.

“Yes. That.”

“Only if you can say the word.”

“Do I have to?”

“I think so.”

“Fine,” he said with an exaggerated grimace. “I’m suggesting we attempt an actual… relationship.”

“Was that so hard?”

“It was excruciating.”

She laughed. “I’m so proud of you, my brave little boy.”

“Aw, thanks. But you should know… I’m apt to screw it up here and there. I’ll be counting on you to keep me in line.”

“I can do that. But…”

“What?”

“Your siblings will be upset about this. Well, not Julian, but the others…”

“I’m aware. I can handle them. And besides, after this last week, we’re kind of out of the closet with them.”

“That’s true, but will you tell them we’ve decided to go official?”

“Do we need to announce it?”

“To them? Yes, we do.”

“Why?” he asked on a protracted moan. “That’ll be like poking a hornet’s nest.”

“Because it’s not official in your world until they know.”

“Why do you gotta be so observant? It’s annoying.”