Oh no.

I liked that.

I liked it too much.

I knew I felt that for me. I knew what we had like this, like now, was something special, something beautiful.

I just didn’t know he felt the same.

I closed my eyes tighter.

I felt his nose sweep my jaw before his lips went back to my ear. “And something else you gotta get, darlin’, is that I’m here. I’m always here. I promised to have your back and I mean that every way you can mean that to be.”

I didn’t understand this, not exactly.

But Buck saying that set visions sliding along my closed eyelids, memories shifting through my brain.

Buck holding Tatiana and kissing the top of her head.

Gear talking about Buck surprising him with the car they worked on together.

Buck telling me he liked to make me smile.

Buck making me and his kids French toast, waffles, everyone getting a turn to decide what they wanted, and Buck giving it to us.

Buck making me kiss him to end a fight.

Falling asleep with my head on Buck’s thigh, his fingers in my hair.

Buck handing me money for a day out with the girls, a dinner with Mrs. Jimenez.

Buck looking for Tia and getting upset because he couldn’t find her.

Buck giving me a home and making me feel welcome there, my place, my space, never making me feel temporary, a nuisance, a burden.

Before I could stop myself, I turned to him, and his head lifted up when it did.

“I never thanked you for my car,” I whispered.

I felt his body relax on mine and I didn’t even realize it was tense.

“Babe,” he muttered then touched his mouth to mine.

Once he’d done that, he pulled out, rolled to his back and lifted his hips, yanking off his jeans. He threw them aside and then tugged the covers out from under us, pulled them over us and curled me into his side.

Then he asked, “You drive it yet?”

“Tatie and I cleaned the house. Then Locke made us corn dogs and tater tots. I wasn’t certain a joyride in the car that started…”

I stopped talking as I realized where I was leading.

Buck’s arm around my waist gave me a squeeze.

“Toots, friend of a friend was in a jam, needed money fast, had to unload his Charger to get it. I’ve had that car down at the shop and been fuckin’ around with it for months. Was gonna fix it up and sell it but didn’t wanna. It’s a sweet ride. The minute I met you, I knew your ass had to be in that ride, so I finished it, and Ink and me brought it up while you were workin’ yesterday.”

Oh dear.

I liked that too.

I liked that he went out of his way to surprise me.

I lifted my head and looked down at his shadowed face. “The minute you met me, you knew I had to have that car?”

His hand not around me came up and cupped my jaw then slid into my hair, pulling me closer to him.

“All right, maybe not. The minute I fucked you against the wall and knew I was gonna be fuckin’ you for a while, I knew your ass had to be in that ride.”

“That car is cool and I’m not cool,” I told him.

“No, that car is sweet, and that car is hot and, babe, you’re both a’ those.”

Oh no.

I liked that too.

I shook my head.

He was something else and the something else he was being now felt nice.

Then I dropped my head to press my face in his chest.

After I did this, two things occurred to me.

One, he was apparently settled in for the night without the need for a quick visit to the bathroom, and two, there was wetness between my legs, and it wasn’t all mine.

My head shot up.

“Did you use a condom?” I breathed.

“Uh… no, babe, you coming against my mouth like that, wasn’t gonna wait to get my dick in there.”

“Oh God,” I whispered.

His hand still in my hair tensed.

“Babe, it’s no big deal.”

“Buck! I still haven’t started my period.”

“You will.”

“I won’t if we keep forgetting condoms!” I snapped, something we had not done since our early days.

Oh God!

He pulled my face close to his again.

“Babe, learn now. Read me. When you start to freak out, calm down a second, take a breath, think about it and read me.”

At first, I had no clue what he was saying.

Then, I still had no clue and I was too busy freaking out to take a breath and “read him.”

Finally, I took a breath, forced myself to calm down, and it struck me that he didn’t need to calm down.

When he said he had my back and that he had my back in every way that could be, he had my back.

He didn’t care if I got pregnant, because, he might not be trying to start a family with me, but if it happened, sixteen years down the road, he’d give our child a car and I could be on his deck or I could be on the phone with him, and it was up to me if I was a bitch.

Oh…my…God, God, God.

“You don’t care if I get pregnant,” I whispered.

“Not so much,” he replied instantly. “Like I said, you’ll be a good mom. And just sayin’, got even more proof that’s the motherfuckin’ truth after last night, this morning, and tonight.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed then my eyes narrowed in the dark. “You aren’t…trying, are you?”

He rolled into me and both his arms went around me before he said, “Life is life, gorgeous, and you gotta let go and live more. I love the feel of you. You love our connection, and babe, I feel the same. I don’t like anything between you and me. A kid comes outta that, so be it. You need to get on the pill. We had so much goin’ on, we’ve let that slide and we need to get on it. Until then, I’m happy to take my chances if I get what I get from you. And I get what I get from you, I get it a lot and it’s always fuckin’ good. Tonight, better than ever. So, no, I’m not tryin’, but I also don’t care. If that’s the price of havin’ you the way I want you, I’m happy to pay it.”

Oh dear.

There it was again.

I liked that too.

It wasn’t romantic.

It wasn’t flowery.

It all seemed to be about sex.

But he loved the family he had. His kids meant a lot to him.

And the fact he didn’t mind having more, as crazy as it seemed, said a lot about him.

“You’re a very unusual man, West Hardy,” I blurted, because he was.

No man just shrugged at the thought of creating a child and all that meant to his future in order to get great sex.

Buck was silent then he shifted into me, shoving his face in my neck to muffle his bark of laughter.

I tried twisting my neck and pressing my head in the pillow to get him to look at me, but I failed, so I called, “Buck.”

He pulled his face out of my neck and brushed his mouth against mine.

Then he whispered, “Yeah, gorgeous, I’m unusual,” and he whispered it, still chuckling.

“Buck—”

He rolled to his back, tucking me into his side, saying, “Wiped, Toots. I had less sleep than you last night and a seriously jacked-up day. Time to crash.”

A seriously jacked-up day?

Did he just mean Conley, Tatie, and dealing with me?