I’ve never wanted to stop fighting as much as I do now. I always thought I had to battle to get what I wanted, but then what I wanted wasn’t what it seemed. I’m tired. And I don’t want to do that anymore.
I open my mouth to tell him that, but he turns to me and presses a quick kiss against my lips. “We should help them clean up before they get pissy.”
He’s smiling, but I can tell he wants to change the subject. That for some reason, he doesn’t want my reply.
I hope I’m not wrong about us.
I hope what we have is forever.
Because I really want my forever to be with Oakley Easton.
THIRTY-SIX
OAKLEY
Today felt good. Really good. Honestly, every day where I get to work with not only my best friends but also with Travis is a good day.
Travis has been incredible. He does all the stuff I’d never want to do, even if I could figure it out. He does all the invoicing, all the planning and scheduling, and all I have to do is the fun part. I get to plan the designs and then build them.
I never thought it would be possible to have my own business, but it’s looking like a real possibility now.
I thought I might have ruined everything, though, when he asked me what my dream is. It had to sound insanely boring to him, but I couldn’t help it once I started. I want all of that. And God, I want all of that with him.
But I’ve been too chickenshit to actually ask him what the plan is. Right now, he seems content. We’re making a lot of money. Like, a lot. We work full-time at the landscaping place and every free minute out on our own.
I know he has to have plenty saved up for college, but I haven’t asked him if that’s what he wants because I’m a coward. The truth is I don’t want him to go. And I know that’s selfish. So damn selfish because I know he’s always wanted that.
But the thought of losing him kills me.
After we got home from work, we took a quick shower together, with him dropping to his knees and swallowing me down. He’s become a real fucking pro at that, and it took no time at all to make me come. Of course, I eagerly returned the favor, swallowing his load before standing up and swapping a filthy kiss with him before we cleaned up and got out of the shower to dry off.
We skipped clothes, though, and found our way under the covers of my bed—that I’m starting to think of as our bed—getting lost in each other again. His kisses make me straight-up stupid to where I can’t think, but it’s a blissful sort of dumb.
I don’t want to think when I’m with him. I just want to be with him.
He moves in and out of my body with smooth, graceful thrusts, dragging along my prostate over and over again, making my hands curl into the blankets. I grab onto his ass and pull him deeper as I close my eyes and just feel. I don’t think about anything else but the way his dick stretches me and hits that sweet spot deep inside that shoots stars behind my eyes.
“I’m close,” I gasp, and he leans down with a fiercely strong kiss, owning me—every single part of me—before I cry out, my untouched cock spurting cum all over, and he cries out too, his cum splashing inside of me.
My heart is racing, and I struggle to catch my breath as he lands on top of me, not caring about the mess between us. I almost don’t hear him when he says, “I want that too, Oakley.”
“What?” I ask, still blissed-out and not even sure if I heard him right.
“I want the porch swing and the backyard. Our business that we’re building together. Hell, maybe even a couple of kids to fill that big house you build.”
My heart rate kicks up for a totally different reason now. He can’t mean that. “Trav . . .” I start, and he lifts up to look down into my eyes. “You don’t want that. You can’t settle for me.”
He leans down and kisses me slowly, softly. “Choosing you and this crazy, absolutely beautiful life with you, that’s not settling, Oakley. That’s finding a new dream. A better dream.”
“No.” God, I want to believe him. I want to believe that’s what he wants, but no. “You want college. Big cities and traveling. I . . .”
“Don’t.” He’s smiling, and I really don’t know why he’s smiling when he just confirmed we don’t want the same thing.
“No. I don’t. Not at all.” My chest aches as I speak the truth, and I want to take it back. “I mean, I will. For you, I’ll do anything. I don’t . . .”
“Shhh . . .” he silences me and rolls off me, but he pulls me to my side so we’re facing each other. “I don’t want you in the city.” I start to speak again, but he shushes me—which should annoy me, but I like when he gets bossy. “I don’t want to be in the city. And hell, I think I actually might hate stoplights as much as you do.”
“Impossible,” I tease, but I don’t really feel any better. “I don’t want you to regret this. Years from now.”
“I won’t.” He says it with so much certainty, I almost believe him. “Oakley, I want this. I love working next to you. Watching you come up with these designs. But I also really love the business side of it. I want to take some business classes so we can do the most with our company that we can.”
“Our company?” I ask curiously.
He looks so damn cute when he bites on his bottom lip and almost looks nervous as he shrugs one shoulder. “I think we could do it. Maybe even hire Jameson and Garrison eventually, if they want.”
Hope starts to spread through my stupid brain. “You’re sure that’s what you want?”
“Yes.” Again, it’s said so easily. “This is what I want. More than anything. And it’s not settling, and it’s not because anyone else told me to. It’s because you gave me the freedom to decide for myself what I want. You’ve defended my choices before I needed to. You fought for me when you didn’t even know that’s what you were doing.” His hand brushes over my cheek, and he looks into my eyes. “You’re what I want.”
“I want you too,” I breathe softly and lean in to kiss his lips. “But I’ll follow you anywhere if you want a change. And I’ll never stop fighting for you. I want you to have everything.”
He smiles at that and kisses my lips. “I want to go on vacations once a year. Somewhere cool and different each time. And then I want to come back here to our perfectly simple life.”
“I want that too.” I can go on a vacation. That’s no problem. “I love you.”
His eyes close briefly, and I watch his chest as he takes a deep breath and then lets it out. His voice is a harsh whisper. “I love you too.”
“Way to make me sweat it out,” I joke.
“Shut up.” He presses a hard kiss to my lips, and I push his body under mine as I press all my weight on top of him and kiss the hell out of him.
A perfectly simple life with Travis.
That’s my dream, and I think it’s going to come true.
THIRTY-SEVEN
TRAVIS
“I think that’s about it.” We finish the porch swing for Oakley’s mom. We just stained it and fixed a couple of loose nails to keep it as close to the original creation as possible. It looks really good, and I think his mom will be happy with it.