Page 229 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

Good.

I don’t want them back.

June doesn’t move.

Doesn’t blink.

So I keep going before my courage inconveniently dies.

“I know the timing’s messy,” I say. “I know today’s been a lot, and I’m not saying it because of the drama or because you got spat at or because everything feels heightened right now. I’m saying it because it’s true, and it was true before this morning, and I’m done pretending I can keep it tucked away neatly until a more convenient moment comes along.”

Her lips part slightly.

I keep talking, because now it’s started, it all wants out.

“I love you when you’re laughing and when you’re nervous and when you’re trying to act tougher than you feel. I love the way you pocket wood scraps like they’re treasure. I love the way you look at Evan like there’s nothing in the world he could do that would make him too much for you. I love that you still choose softness without confusing it for weakness.” I let out a slow breath. “And I know this thing between all of us is complicated. I know it doesn’t come with a map. But I’m in it. Fully. I’m not passing through.”

June’s eyes are bright all of a sudden. “Rex…”

“Yeah, darlin’?”

“That was not smooth at all.”

I bark out a laugh, half relief and half nerves. “I did warn you.”

She smiles then, and it’s so beautiful I almost forget how to breathe.

Then she sets her coffee down too.

“You idiot,” she says softly, stepping closer.

“That sounding affectionate or critical?”

“Both.”

“Fair enough.”

Her hands come up to my jacket, fingers curling lightly into the front of it, and the whole world narrows down to that touch.

“I love you too,” she says.

Everything inside me goes still.

Then loud.

Then still again.

Enough that I can only stare at her. Maybe I misheard on purpose because wanting it that badly should’ve made me cautious.

June’s smile turns a little shy around the edges. “You can say something now.”

“I’m trying to think of something worthy of the occasion.”

“That bad?”

“Worse. I may never recover.”

She laughs, and I don’t waste another second.