Page 125 of Misguided

“Of course.”

“Good.” I set my hands on her ass and hoist her high. “Can we forget about it for a while now?”

“I guess.” Her arms wrap around my shoulders. “We need to talk about your transfer to Fort Worth, anyway.” She smirks.

“My what?” I smile.

“Come on.” Mel dots a kiss to my nose. “My room there is bigger, plus you want to get away from all this, so what better way to do it?”

“What’s the huntin’ like down there?” I tease.

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Her eyes search mine, the hope clear. “What do you say?”

I know what I want to say. But … “I think we should talk to your brother first, don’t you?”

She flops her head dramatically against my shoulder. “Why?”

“It’s his place, babe.” I start walking us toward the stairs. “Only polite to ask before I turn up with a bag in hand.”

“Fine.” She pulls back to look me in the eye as I set her down. “But let’s wait a few days, huh? I want to spend some time with my man before we go starting more fires.”

I give her a swift smack to the ass. “Fine by me, babe. Now go get your naked ass in my bed so I can spend some time with it, too.”

Mel giggles, taking off up the stairs two at a time so I can’t catch her. To look at her now, you wouldn’t think a few weeks back I was scooping her up off the floor in this very spot, wondering if she’d ever find her old self again.

But as she looks back over her shoulder, swinging herself into my room with one hand, I know without a doubt she not only found her old self, but she improved it with a bit of the new Mel, carved from her time alone.

She’s nothing short of amazing and everything I ever needed.

She’s mine.

I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of saying that.

Mine.