I leaned against the counter in the kitchen while the coffee brewed, my gaze fixed on Tori in the living room. Holding the penny up to the light, she watched it spin on the end of the twine.

Me—I was that damned coin. On the end of her rope, spinning.

I’d meant to tell her about the penny last night—I’d meant to tell her a lot of things—but after all the stuff with my mom, everything got hazy.

I love you.

Had I said it aloud, or was that just a dream? I couldn’t be sure, since I’d just slept for ten hours and the world was still a little fuzzy around the edges.

After fixing Tori’s coffee, I headed back to the living room. “Here you go.”

Taking the mug, she scrutinized me with a pinched brow. “My mom said that Lucky … that you, had gone home with your dad.” Tears welled in her eyes as she closed her fingers around the coin and brought her fist to her heart. “I didn’t know it was you. How long have you known?”

I took a seat beside her, leaving a couple of feet between us. “That night at your parents’ house.”

“That’s why you left?”

Ran was a more accurate description. I frowned into my first sip of coffee. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Inhaling a controlled breath, I set my mug on the table. “Have you ever seen the movie, The Reader?” She shook her head. “This woman went to prison rather than admit she couldn’t read. I’ve been carrying this secret my whole life, baby. You don’t understand what it means … how it feels …”

She scooted closer. “But it’s not your fault.”

A brittle laugh scraped my throat. “Which part—not being able to read, or letting my mom’s killer go free?”

I’d said it—admitted it—and now it was real. Shame pooled in my belly, coating me from the inside out, and I hung my head. In a flash, Tori was on my lap, straddling me, her hands in my hair.

“You did not let your mother’s killer go free! Why would you think that?”

Curving my hands around her thighs, I chuckled. “Because it’s true. I spent years blaming Jake. And even then …” I shook my head. ”I stayed in that trailer until I was seventeen. What does that say about me?”

Tears I didn’t deserve spilled onto her cheeks. “It says you were scared. Are you sure it wasn’t your dad? ”

Tori spoke in a whisper, as if she might disturb the ghost in my head if she talked any louder.

“No. The car in front of us that night, it wasn’t his. It was just dumb luck that we were there. Two robberies had been reported with a vehicle that matched my description. I found that out after Dr. Patel requested the police report. But I was the only one who saw a license plate.”

My hands trailed up her thighs to her waist, memorizing the feel of her. Higher I went, to her nape, where my thumb found the little notch on her throat. Stroking the tiny ridge, I smiled. One inch, the difference between life and death. Without the scar, Tori wouldn’t be here. So I leaned in and kissed the perfect imperfection with all the reverence it deserved. And then I pulled her against me, tucking her head under my chin.

“When I found out who you were, I took it as a sign.”

“What kind of a sign?”

Stroking one hand up and down her back, I kept the other in her hair. “You’re my redemption, Victoria. You’re everything. On my darkest day, I found you. And I know it’s not the same for you. You had your great love. And I get that.” I brushed my lips over the soft strands on her crown. “I just want a chance. I want to make memories with you that are so beautiful they make you weep like you did in Paris. I want to be that for you, because you’re that for me.”

She turned to stone in my arms, and I felt my heart crack, falling to the ground in shards at her feet. I could never be that for her.

I was trying to figure out how to rephrase my plea so she wouldn’t freak out when she said in a small voice, “I hate Paris. Paris is the worst place on earth.” A tremor took her whole and she sniffled. “During the last Damaged tour in Europe, we played a gig in Paris. I was pregnant. Three months. After the show, I wasn’t feeling well, but we had another date in London, at Wembley. Ninety thousand seats—sold out. I told Rhenn to go. I didn’t think he would … but he did. And while he was onstage the next night in front of all those strangers, I lost my baby in a hospital with a view of the Eiffel Tower outside my window. That day you found me in the church, I wasn’t crying for Rhenn. I was crying for the baby boy that I never got to meet.”

She lifted her gaze then, fat tears streaming down her beautiful face. “I loved Rhenn. I did. But maybe he was only meant to stay for a minute. To teach me what he had to teach me and be on his way.” She cupped my cheek. “If my life were a song, Rhenn would be the first verse. But I think … I think you’re meant to be the chorus. The part that goes on and on. I love you, Logan. And it’s so big … this feeling, I don’t know what to do with it.”

Our confessions hung in the air, an overcast sky filled with tears, shattered dreams, and bittersweet memories. And a rainbow. I saw it in Tori’s eyes, every color under the sun.

She loved me.

Jesus. How impossible was that?

I realized I hadn’t said anything, and a furrow formed between her brows. Pressing my lips to the little spot, I whispered, “I love you, Victoria. Always you. Even before I knew it was you.”

She tipped her chin, lashes fluttering. “Do you think … I mean … is it too much?”

“What, baby?”

“Us. I’m afraid.”

I rose to my feet with Tori in my arms. “No. We’re even now.”

I wasn’t sure if it were true. Because I had more than I’d ever expected. I had Tori. So I had it all.

Wrapping her legs around my waist, she buried her face in my neck as I carried her to my bed and laid her down on the uncovered mattress.

“Where are the sheets?” Lifting her hips so I could strip off her jeans, she raised her brows and waited for an answer.

Once I was undressed, I joined her. There was no place to hide. Nothing to cover us. “Ever since you left, I haven’t been able to sleep. The sheets in every hotel smelled … well, not like you. And when I got home, it was the same.”

She settled against the only covered pillow. “What about this one?”

I sighed, easing on top of her. “That’s not my pillow, it’s yours. I stole it from the hotel in Paris.”

A laugh tripped from her lips. “You stole a pillow?”

It seemed fair, since she’d stolen everything else. “Yes, and I’d do it again.”

I pressed a kiss to her mouth, my tongue sweeping inside. So fucking sweet. Tori’s fingers threaded my hair, and she sighed. A breathy little pant gave way to a moan as I worked my way to her pert nipples. She shivered as I ran my nose over the furled peak. Then she tightened her grip.

So impatient.

“You want me, baby?”

Her legs fell open, and I smiled, scoring my teeth across her nipple while my fingertips skimmed the length of her. All the skin I could reach. And when I made it to the heaven between her thighs, she gasped.

Parting her slick folds, I worked two fingers inside her pussy while my palm applied even pressure to her clit.

Lifting my gaze, I found her staring at me, lips parted and cheeks pink.

“I love you,” she breathed, and then her eyes rolled back, and she was gone. She came undone a second later, surprising me with the intensity of her orgasm.

Before she’d even finished, my face was buried between her thighs. A guttural moan escaped from deep in her throat. And yes, yes, fuck yes, give it to me.

I wanted it all. All of her sounds, her taste, this sweet pussy. Mine. Finally, mine.

“Logan … please.”

When I managed to work my way back up, she peered at me with hooded eyes.

“What, baby?” I asked, brushing the hair out of her face.

Curving a hand around my neck, she pulled me in for a kiss, hips tilting at just the right angle for me to slide home. So I did. And somehow, I’d forgotten this part. The absolute contentment I found inside her body. I wanted to live here. Right here, in this moment. Forever. But we’d have plenty of moments. A lifetime. So I started to move. And an even more wondrous moment unfurled. Her eyes widened, and that honied gaze locked me down. And it was like staring into the sun. Blinding, but not.

“This is where forever lives,” I whispered against her lips.

And she nodded.

And I nodded.

And we fell.