Page 126 of Rules Of Our Own
Me: Coming home.
Alex: Thank fucking God.
* * *
Alex and River are already waiting for me in the hall. Alex walks up to me, immediately wrapping me in a hug, but River keeps his back to the wall, arms crossed protectively over his chest. He’s watching me, teeth clenched.
Tears slip over my cheeks, and Alex leans back, brushing them away with his thumbs. “What happened? Who do I have to kill?”
A watery smile pulls at the corner of my lips. How am I supposed to tell him that I messed everything up?
“Let’s get inside,” River says and walks in without looking back. There’s a frigidness to him that I know I deserve.
I bury my hands in Alex’s hair, pulling him closer and lift onto my toes, kissing him with everything I have. Not stopping when my lungs scream for breath and my head grows dizzy. If this is our last kiss I’m going to memorize every second of him.
He pulls back, his gaze roaming over my face, and his brows pinch in the middle like he doesn’t like what he sees. “Mia.” he whispers as he cups my neck in his hands.
My chest aches at his gentle touch, and I can’t stop the tears from leaking down my face. I want him,them.I struggle against the unfairness of it all. They told me their coach threatened to trade one of them if Alex couldn’t clean up his image. Jason is a lot of things, but he’s right about this. Nothing screams playboy like hooking up with the creator of the charity he’s working with. It’ll be everywhere. Everything he’s done will be overshadowed by the delicious gossip that he couldn’t keep it in his pants. They don’t know how much more this means. All they’ll see is Alex Grayson being everything they think he is. I grit my teeth. They don’t know him. Not like I do. I can’t let their coach trade him. The idea of being the reason they’re separated is like a lance to my gut. The only chance they have is to end things with me and for how much it hurts I have to let them.
Alex catches a tear with his thumb, and I can’t stop myself from leaning into his touch. His throat bobs when he swallows hard, and worry settles over his features. “Why did that feel like a goodbye, Kitten?”
I fight back a sob and answer him truthfully. “Because when I tell you what I did, you’re going to let me go.”
His head snaps back like I slapped him. “Never.”
My chin trembles as I desperately want that to be true. I break from his hold and walk through their door, ready to get this done so I can go curl up in a ball and fall apart in private.
River’s leaning against the kitchen island, his arms crossed as he takes me in. I desperately want to steal a kiss from him. To feel him wrapped around me, and store the feel of him away to take out and remember him at night.
He doesn’t move to close the distance between us. He’s always been too observant, able to read me like a book. Alex joins his side, looking at me with unease.
River lifts one brow, tilting his head to the side. “Tell us what happened, Mia. Because I don’t believe for a fucking second you’d hurt us.”
My teeth snap together, not expecting that, and I roll my lips, taking several breaths before getting it over with. “Jason’s going to go public with our relationship. It’ll probably be plastered on every news station shortly.”
Alex laughs, actually laughs, and his posture relaxes as relief visibly washes over him. “That’s it? I’ve been dying to tell everyone about us.”
My brows pull together, and I shake my head. “But your coach said you need to have a clean image, or you won’t get the captaincy. You could get traded! Pretty sure fucking the charity coordinator you work with counts as dirtying your image.”
He closes the steps between us and meets my gaze head-on. “Listen to me, Kitten. None of it matters. Not my career, not the game. Especially not the fucking captaincy. Not compared to you. Not compared to this.” He gestures between River and me. “People are going to think whatever they want. There’s no changing that.” He runs his thumb under my eye wiping away a tear. “We make our own rules, Mia. It’s what we think that matters. It’s what we choose that makes a difference. And I choose us. And I’ll do it again and again. Damn the consequences. As long as I have both of you, I have everything I need. My question is, do you choose us?”
The world tilts, and I suck in a breath, tears pooling in my lashes. “Of course.”
River walks up to us, and Alex makes room for him to wrap me in his arms. He stares into my eyes. “The biggest mistake of my life was letting you walk away. I should’ve fought for you then. Like fuck I’ll make the same mistake now.”
His mouth crashes to mine, and he kisses me until my lungs burn. He pulls back and stands shoulder to shoulder with Alex. “You’re ours. We’re yours. Always have been and always will be. There’s no changing that. I love you.”
I love youreplays in my head, and I’m frozen in place.
They don’t care. They don’t care about the scandal.
Tears pool in my eyes, overflowing the rim. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Even when I mess everything up?”
Alex wraps me in his arms from behind and buries his face in the curve of my neck. “Especially when you mess everything up. Not sure you’ve noticed, but we love fixing things for you.”