"What ammo?" My brows shoot up in surprise.
"First date? Your cell phone playlist. Ring any bells?" He sticks his tongue out at me.
Damn! He said he was going to use Phil Collins against me when I become a journalist.
And I did, partly because of him.
Chapter Twenty Two
It's the middle of the night and I hear a knock on my hotel room’s door. I know who it is. I've been waiting for Ty, and I haven't slept a second. It took time for him to get here, since he was caught up with all those interviews, the last one with Cam for Diablo Hill magazine. Yes, he met Cam in the lobby at 2 a.m., and then he even skipped all the after-parties just so he could come back to me.
My own personal, very unusual Prince Charming.
I open the door and lean on the frame. He has a black eye, swollen lip and a deep cut above his left eyebrow, but he is beautiful, absolutely perfect.
"Tired?" I ask, smiling.
"As shit. Thanks for waiting."
He walks straight into my bedroom and lifts his hand, showing me something...a ticket? I pluck it from his hand.
“I planned all along to beg you to take me back," he says quietly. “This is proof that I was getting my ass on a plane to come home the minute I was done with the fight."
And sure enough, I'm holding a one-way ticket from Vegas to San Francisco, scheduled to leave here in the morning.
"And this is the second piece of proof." He takes off his shirt, staring down at his tattoo. "You don't ink a reminder of a person if you're not willing to fight really hard to keep them in your life."
"I know." I grin, looking away and giving him my left side, flashing my new tat. The letter T is inked behind my ear, curling into a shape of a heart.
"Holy shit." He laughs, but quickly stops because smiling is painful when you have a busted lip. "I love it." He runs his finger tenderly along my jaw.
"I love you," I answer without blinking.
"And I love you too. Actually, not to be competitive—hell, I am a competitive sonofabitch—but I fell in love with you a lot quicker than you did me. You pretty much ripped my heart from my chest when you came to see me in July."
I throw my arms around his neck, diving my face into his chest. I can feel him wincing from the pain from the fight, but he wraps his arms around me presses me into him like all he wants is for us to become one.
"I shouldn't have judged you,” I cry into his chest. “Not on what you’d done before we met. I know you never meant to hurt me."
"And I shouldn't have been so pissed at you for walking out on me." He strokes my head, whispering into my left ear, no doubt admiring the new tattoo. "I just got so attached so quickly it felt like a betrayal when you turned your back on me. I realized you needed the time, and I was more than prepared to give it to you. I always knew I'd come back. Always." He laughs. “This is the first time you're ahead of my game. I didn’t expect you to surprise me in Vegas again."
"It's about time." I pull away so I can look at his perfect face. The face I've missed so much. Heart is pounding to the rhythm of Ty's heartbeat, Brain is enjoying the adrenaline rush, and Hormones are ready to make use of the big bed behind us.
All three parts of me are in sync, finally in perfect harmony.
"I haven't been with anyone else since we broke up," he says, his expression turning serious.
Every hair in my body stands up. I know that. I believe him. "Neither have I," I say.
He pulls me close for a kiss. His lips are warm and salty and he’s sweaty, but just inhaling his familiar scent makes me drunk. Completely smashed, more like. We kiss like it's the last time we'll ever touch each other again. Even though he's here and we're together—definitely together—I'm still heartbroken for all the lost time. Living life without him was hell on earth. Nothing felt good without him by my side.
He pulls me closer, and by the bulge pressing my stomach, I know exactly where we're heading.
"Are you sure you’re not too hurt for us to...?" I drop my gaze to his erection. He looked like he could use a few days at the hospital when he walked out of that cage earlier this evening.