“I can’t believe your dad found out you love me before I did.”

Collin nuzzled his nose into her neck. Bre could feel his heart pounding against her back. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that they were now making love, because it definitely felt more like fucking like wild animals. But since they were technically in love with each other, she supposed she should call the activity by its appropriate name.

“How long are you going to keep crying about it?” she asked, mostly teasing. “I already told you: it just came out. I didn’t plan it or anything.”

“I’m just wondering if you’re going to make a habit of telling everyone else the things you should be telling me…”

“I’m not going to tell you anything if you’re going to whine this much about it.”

Thoughts of their future together and how different life was going to be flashed through her head. She was trying to remain positive about the whole situation, so it was for the best if she didn’t think about it for too long. Everybody died; that’s a fact of life. Ray just had a clearer timetable than most people.

“You okay?” Collin asked, probably sensing that her thoughts were getting away from her.

“I’ll be fine. It’s life, ya know?”

“You’re still allowed to be upset about it.”

Bre took a deep breath before nodding that she understood.

“I’m choosing to not be upset about it,” she said. “Getting upset won’t help anything.”

“Taking an enlightened view?”

“I don’t really have a choice. I can be upset later. For now, I just want to enjoy what time I have left with him.”

Collin kissed her on the cheek and she took the opportunity to snuggle even deeper into his arms.

“Well, I’m here for you, in whatever way you need me to be.”

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a single doubt in Bre’s mind that he really would be there for her—no matter what. It was the first time she’d been able to say that about anyone in her life.

She rolled over and looked him in the eye. She searched those beautiful, blue eyes for a long moment before saying what was on her mind.

“Thank you,” she said, finally.

“For what?”

“For pushing me. If you hadn’t… Well, now I get to spend more time with him.”

“He would have told you. He just needed to figure out how.”

“Maybe,” she allowed. “But maybe not until it was too late. Because of you I get a chance to makeup with him before… things get worse.”

She could admit to herself that Ray was dying; she just wasn’t quite ready to say it out loud. The day had left her with a lot of processing to do, but soon she’d get it all sorted out.

“Well… you’re welcome,” Collin said, smiling. “I’d do it all over again if I had to.”

A grin of her own spread across Bre’s face.

“And I love you for it.”

He gave her a satisfied look.

“You really do, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Love me…”

She gave him a light slap on the arm, even as the grin on her face widened.

“Don’t make me change my mind.”

He squeezed her tight.

“I’d change it back for you.”

She looked back at him over her shoulder.

“Are you getting cocky on me?”

“I’m trying it out,” he said. “What do you think?”

“I think that as long as you keep using that magical tongue of yours you can be as cocky as you want.”

He let out a loud laugh.

“Who’s the cocky one now?”

“You know your place.”

“Inside of you?” he asked without missing a beat.

“Damn straight.”

They held each other for a couple minutes without saying a single thing. Bre tried to force every thought out of her head. This was one of those moments she just wanted to enjoy. No drama. Just be happy. It was so simple and it felt so good. She was amazed she’d never tried it before.

“Hey Bre?” Collin said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

He pressed a kiss into the back of her head and whispered into her ear.

“I love you.”

Bre hugged him even tighter as a huge grin spread across her face.

“I love you, too.”

Yeah… this felt good.