As Shelby climbs on the bike behind me, I stroke her hands with mine, and she leans her face against my back.

“I missed you,” she whispers just before I fire up the engine.

Suddenly I can’t get her home fast enough.

Shelby

It feels so good to have his body against mine as we ride through the night. After everything, we needed to get here, to this moment.

The adrenaline from the fight has worn off and it leaves me feeling exhausted, and I almost nod off a couple times on the ride. It felt so good to win, so good. It was like once I realized how much I deserved to win, I fought like it. Before that, I was selling myself short. And if he hadn’t been there to be my rock, I don’t know if I would have.

When we get back to the apartment, we don’t play the “whose apartment are we going to” game. He takes my keys and unlocks my door, leading me in and locking it behind us.

“I figured you want to be in your place after a fight,” he says when he notices me watching. Honestly, I don’t care what apartment we’re in as long as we’re together.

I already showered at the gym, so I don’t need to shower here. Instead, I pour us both a glass of wine. But he only takes one sip before he sets it on the count and pulls my face in for a kiss. I love when he wraps his hands around my face like that, and I hum into the embrace. I missed it so damn much.

“I’ve been going to therapy,” he mumbles against my lips.

My eyes pop open and I stare at him.

“I quit fighting, and I started running,” he adds.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you deserve to know. You made that happen for me.”

Then, without warning, he pulls his shirt off his body, baring himself before he takes my hand and puts it on his chest. “I’m not perfect,” he says, staring into my eyes. “I still have a long way to go.”

Pulling my body closer to his, I whisper. “I’m so proud of you.” I kiss him again, trying to savor the way his lips feel against mine. I am never letting him go again. I can’t.

Without warning, he scoops me up, and I wrap my legs around him as he carries me to the bedroom. Our kiss is growing more heated as he lays me on the bed, ripping my clothes off in a rush until I’m lying beneath him completely naked.

His mouth trails from my neck down to my breasts while his hands skim up the length of my thighs until he reaches the pooling arousal between my legs. As he takes one of my nipples into my mouth, his finger glides into me, and I almost come undone from the contact. It’s been so long since I’ve been touched, I practically die from the pleasure his fingers bring.