“Dex.” She chokes out a sob, squeezing her eyes shut tight.
“Look at me, Tink.” Forever passes before she does as she’s told. “I. Love. You.”
She shakes her head violently, and I move to cradle the back of it to keep her from banging it against the tile.
“You can’t love me,” she pleads.
“Maddey, I’m a SEAL—I’m not the type of person who likes to be told what they can and cannot do.”
The skin on my elbows burns more the harder I dig them into the wall.
“You follow orders from command all the time.”
Even while I’m trying to profess my love, she has to be a difficult smartass. I anticipate lots of spankings and makeup sex in the years to come. Then again, if she was a shrinking violet, she would never be able to handle me.
“Now is not the time for jokes, Madison.”
Her eyes flare, staring at me defiantly. “Then stop messing around.”
“Stop trying to piss me off by intentionally being obtuse.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her clench her hands into fists then unclench them.
“Look.” Her shoulders roll back. “I get it.” Does she? “We had sex. But I’m a big girl, Dex.” She inhales deeply and blows it out before she continues. “Just because we have history doesn’t mean I’m going to get the wrong idea.”
What the fuck is she talking about?
“I don’t need false assurances. I’m perfectly capable of separating sex from emotion.”
If she thought what we spent more than half the night doing didn’t involve emotion, she’s out of her goddamn mind.
“If you’re worried I’m going to go crying to my brothers because you didn’t say you ‘love me’”—I growl when she puts air quotes around the words—“don’t be. I won’t say anything. This”—she bounces a finger between us then circles it at the ceiling in the direction of her bedroom—“is none of their business.”
Am I worried how the Die Hard Trilogy will react when they find out about me sleeping with their sister? Sure. I technically broke bro code, but after Justin’s declaration, I’m more confident they will forgive me when they realize the depth of my feelings. Now if only I could get the youngest McClain to grasp the concept.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Dex loves me?
Did I hear that right? Nah, no way.
Or maybe I’m still asleep?
Though…
I haven’t had a dream about Dex confessing his undying love for me in years. Maybe having sex jostled one of my old fantasies loose?
Yeah. That has to be it.
But…
If I’m dreaming, why would it include a random phone call with Lyle? I’m no Freud or anything, but I can’t see how those would correlate.
That’s because they don’t.
Yeah, girl. You are not dreaming.
This is very much real.
Oh my swoon. *fans face* I can’t handle it. Dex dropped the L-bomb.
Ahh! *twirls and throws confetti* Dex loves us!
*stares off dreamily* I just love a happy ending.
My characters may be all heart eyes, toasting champagne, and happy-dancing at Dex’s declaration, but not me. I’ve read this story. I know how it plays out.
“I love you, Tink.”
God! Why does he have to keep saying it?
I shake my head. “Please stop saying that, Dex.”
“I do. And you know what? You love me too.” A finger over my lips cuts off my denial. “Don’t you dare lie to me, Maddey.”
I shiver, and it has nothing to do with the water that still hasn’t warmed and everything to do with Dex being all growly alpha man. His nostrils flare and the Tink Train is in full effect as he watches me with hard eyes.
Dammit!
Why does he have to be right? Yes I love him. Of course I do. It doesn’t matter that it isn’t by blood; he’s been my family since before I was even a twinkle in my dad’s balls.
Oof. Why are you thinking about your dad’s balls right now?
Yeah, so not appropriate.
Stop trying to use it as a distraction technique.
Focus on the task at hand.
Fine. They want me to focus—I can do that. I can focus like a person has never focused before. It will be like when I get inspired by a scene and I knock out thousands of words of word vomit.
“You love me, and you know how I know?”
“You’re being ridiculous.” I wonder why he won’t just let this go.
“I have a list, but we’ll go with one of the more obvious ones.”
Obvious? Is he kidding me right now? Obvious? Even when I thought myself in love, no one suspected it. Well…maybe Sammy, but then again, I didn’t really keep my feelings hidden from him. It was like with Jordan and Skye; I told them because they were my vent sessions.
But obvious? Yeah, no. I don’t believe I have any obvious tells, not then and certainly not now.
“This right here”—his thumb strokes across the frog prints tattoo curving along my hip—“tells me you love me.”
“If that were true”—my gaze falls to where his finger is moving along the ink—“then I must be prepping for one hell of a taboo reverse harem romance, because I have prints for Justin, Tyler, Connor, Dad, and your dad too.”
When I decided on this particular piece, I knew I wanted something to honor all the important frogmen in my life. I may have been too young when Dex’s dad died to really remember him, but without him, Dex wouldn’t be in my life. Plus, with all the stories I’ve heard about him from my dad and Peggy, I feel like I know him.
“Sure, it’s not exclusively for me, but only one of them has a hooked toe.”
Fucking hell. How did he notice that? It’s barely discernible, only the slightest bend to one of the digits.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” I argue. Besides, I got the tattoo years ago, back when I was in my puppy-love stage—I know, I know, I’m an idiot—so it no longer applies.
“Oh no?” He arches one of his dark brows sarcastically. How is it sarcastic? Just trust me, it is.
“No.” I bring my arms up to push him away, trying and failing to get some much needed space. The jerk only crowds closer, making it so any time either of us breathes, our chests brush with each inhalation. “I think you’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”
He chuckles. The bastard.
“Neither one of us has been kidnapped, Tink.”
Grrr.
“Fine.” I harrumph. “Under some delusional spell from living in such close quarters.”
“You don’t really live in a shoebox. Try again.”
Is he smirking? Oh my god he’s totally smirking.
“Look, Dex—”
“Hook.”
“What?”
“Hook. I told you to call me Hook. My cock was buried balls-deep in you last night…” He puts his mouth to my ear, the chill from the water chased away by the blanket of heat that is his body. “You can’t tell me you don’t like me after that.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of hate-fucking?” I challenge.