“Oh, yeah?” I ask. After Tyler had left, Grayson told me that he had slipped him a phone so he could call him. They were breaking the rules about witness protection, but I didn’t say anything about it. My boyfriend can’t let his brother go completely, and I understand that.

“How’s he doing?”

“Really well. He has a job and he’s dating someone.”

“That’s awesome,” I say, and I mean it. Those weekly check-in calls from Tyler are everything to Grayson. He doesn’t know where Tyler is living, but that’s for the best. I don’t want anyone going after Grayson, and the cartel would if they thought he had information on his brother.

The trial itself was hard on everyone, but thankfully, some dangerous people were put in prison for a long time due to Tyler’s testimony. He managed to make it through that stressful period without any more attempts made on his life. We had minimal contact with him in the run-up to the trial, and when it was over, Tyler went into witness protection right away. The whole thing has been very hard on Grayson.

I look up at him waiting for me. His smile lights up his face, giving me butterflies in my stomach.

God, he’s so gorgeous.

Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m dating the Grayson Knight. I never was one for the jocks in high school. But I didn’t know what I was missing out on back then. Serious stamina and lots of muscle, and in this case, a beautiful heart and mind.

“Ready to go?” I ask him. And for the first time, I notice that he’s being awfully quiet. Maybe a little jittery. “You wanted to grab dinner out, right?” I ask him.

“Sure. But first…” He pushes his hand into his pocket and pulls out a key.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“A key to my place.”

A smile breaks out on my face. “You’re giving me a key to your place?”

“I am.”

My smile gets wider. Walking over to him, I curl my hand around the key, taking it from him. “Wow. This feels like a big step. A great step, though. Thank you so much. Do you want a key to my place?”

“No,” he says.

My smile drops. “No?”

He takes my hands in his. “I don’t need a key to your place…because, well, I’m hoping that I already have one.”

“Okay…” Confused, I furrow my brow.

“Babe…I’m not just giving you a key to my place. I’m asking you to move in with me.”

Oh. Wow. An even bigger step than I expected.

“You want me to move in with you?” The words rush out of me, my heart quickening.

He smiles softly and says, “More than anything. Question is…do you want to move in with me?” I can hear the nerves clearly in his voice.

There’s no hesitation in my answer. I part my lips and say, “More than anything.”

His face breaks out into the biggest and most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. “Good,” he says, “because I love you and I think that we have something good going on here. And I can’t wait to live with you to explore it.” Then he kisses me, and it feels like a lifetime of kisses to come. Grayson leans his head back, staring down into my eyes, and asks, “So. Are you ready to go home?”