I did. There were a few dates burned into my memory, and this was one of them. “Declan’s birthday.”
“He should be here. He should have the pretty girlfriend and son. He should be playing baseball. Instead, you took it all! You took it all!”
She shouted and waved the gun. This was my moment, and I wasn’t sure if I would get another one. I ran toward her, lowering my body for a tackle. Everything was fast and in slow motion all at one time. I was hyper-focused on my target. Her eyes widened and she tried to point the gun at me, but she was too late.
I tackled her to the floor and heard the wail of a siren in the distance. Was it Colt? Or just a fucking coincidence?
The gun was between us as I tried to restrain her arms. It went off between us, both of our eyes widened as we made eye contact, and all I could feel was the blood.
Delilah screamed and Tuck was yelling around his muzzle. I sat up, unharmed, staring down at the bullet hole in Ms. Young’s stomach. The gun was still in her hand with her finger on the trigger. I leaned over and batted it away before applying pressure to the wound.
“Not like this,” I hissed. “He wouldn’t want you to go like this. He’d never forgive you for what you’ve done.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I want my boy back.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I wish he were here every day, but killing my family wouldn’t have brought him back.”
Chapter 43
Delilah
It was weird coming back to the cabin after the day we’d had. I had four stitches on my temple. Tucker and Gunner were unharmed. We’d all been at death’s door together but were walking away with barely a scratch. Carol had survived surgery and would be recovering in a prison infirmary awaiting her trial, according to Colt. He said she would be going away for a long time.
I couldn’t think of that now or process what we’d been through in only a couple of hours. The minutes had dragged like days as we answered questions. Colt had suggested we could do it tomorrow, but I wanted it done. I wanted Tuck to wake up to a new day tomorrow with this behind him and not drag it out.
Gunner carried Tuck inside the cabin and back to his room. He’d passed out in the car on the way home from the hospital, and I hoped he was so worn out that he wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow. He’d been through so much recently—and there would be so much to process with him—but I would be helping him through it with Gunner at my side.
If he’d have me.
I wanted to bash my head. I never should’ve walked away in the first place. But I’d never walk away again. Gunner would have to fight hard to get rid of me.
Gunner walked out of Tuck’s room and stood before me in the hallway. He shoved his hands in his pockets and met my gaze. “If I don’t keep my hands in my pockets, I’ll touch you and hold you. I know I held you today, but it might’ve been because of what was happening.”
“It wasn’t,” I said and stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered and swooped me up and carried me into the bedroom. He planted me on the bed, taking off our shoes and then our clothes, before I lay down wrapped up in a cocoon of Gunner.
“I need to feel your skin against mine,” Gunner said.
“I’m sorry,” I said, cupping his cheek with my palm. I’d missed his scruff under the palm of my hand; I’d missed the tickling sensation of it. I’d missed him. “I shouldn’t have walked away. I won’t ever again.”
Gunner gave me a peck on my lips and brushed his hand down the back of my hair and down my spine until he reached the small of my back. “I need you and Tuck in my life.”
“We’re there,” I whispered. “Forever.”
“I love you, Delilah.”
“I love you, Gunner.”
We held each other in silence, letting go of any mistakes we’d made. I wanted to move forward with him.
“I’m sorry about today with Declan’s mom. I didn’t know it was his birthday.”
Gunner shuddered. “Yeah. This was the first time I didn’t go blank for an entire day. I can’t believe it ended the way it did. I wasn’t lying to her, Declan would hate her for this. I know it.”
“We’ll get past this together.”
Gunner nodded and leaned his forehead against mine. “This probably isn’t the best time to bring it up, but what the hell. I found a house I want to buy today, but I want you and Tuck to see it first. It’s perfect for us. I don’t want us to waste another second.”
“For us?” I asked with a smile. I’d run the gamut of emotions today. I’d gone from low, to extremely low, to high, and now extremely high. Tomorrow would be a new day, and I’d need to take each one a day at a time, but I had all I needed underneath this roof. The roof didn’t matter though, only the people under it. And he was right, we couldn’t waste any more time apart. I should’ve learned my lesson with Shayla instead of running scared. I should’ve known Gunner would always be by my side. I’d never make those mistakes again.
“Yeah, for us, buttercup. There’s a pool overlooking an insane view. It’s better than Earl’s, which I’m sure you’ll find joy in rubbing in his face.”
I chuckled and Gunner tickled my side, planting a kiss on my neck. “What else?”
“A field big enough for a baseball diamond. I’ll have Tuck ready to go pro in no time. Or he can become a chef like you in a kitchen that overlooks the bluffs. The realtor said the stove is some sort of fancy shit, but I figured you’d know better than me.”
I laughed and hugged him close to me. “I already love it.”
Gunner wove his fingers into the hair at the back of my head and kissed me, rolling on top of me. I spread my legs and he fell between them. I wrapped my arms and legs around him as he devoured my mouth and then kissed down my neck.
“There’re no neighbors around,” he muttered against my skin. “And there’s a porch swing, so after Tuck is in bed or with a friend, I can take you while the sun sets or under the stars, and you can scream my name loud enough to echo off the canyon.”
I chuckled and arched into him, and he sucked a nipple into his mouth. I moaned and raked my nails down his back. “You’ve thought about this, huh?”
“I’ve thought about you naked on every surface of that house. That’s not all I’ve thought about though.”
He scraped his teeth against my nipple and kissed his way back up to my mouth. “No?” I asked, completely lost in him and only half hearing his words through my fuzzy mind, begging for an orgasm.
“Nope. I thought about you pregnant and filling all the rooms with kids. There’re ten rooms including the master.”
I froze.
“You want nine kids?”
“Including Tuck. When you adopt him, I want to adopt him too. And then we can add eight more. Have our own little baseball team.”
I blinked. And stared. And blinked some more. “Let’s slow this down. Let’s start with one more,” I said.
Gunner laughed and kissed me at the same time. I smiled and kept my lips against his. I could feel his rumbling laughter quaking through my body. I held him closer and relished it. “Two more,” he whispered against my lips.