“Yours,” she gasps through another fluttering clench, and Christ, she’s so wet. So tight. So damn perfect for me in every way.
“Mine, Abby. For better or worse. Forever this time. Tell me you want that.”
I’m dragging myself in and out of her in long, slow thrusts. Sinking as deep as her body can take, down to where our flesh meets in a press that makes her breath come short and her fingers tighten in my hair.
“I want that,” she gasps, her eyes locked with mine. “More than anything, Hank. I want forever with you.”
She clenches again, gasps my name and half a dozen pleas that make me feel like the king of the world.
Another full-length thrust and I have her at the brink. Our eyes meet.
“Marry me, Abby.”
I know it’s fucking cheating, but I sink hilt-deep, rocking into the little spot that throbs between us, pushing her over the edge.
“Yes!” she cries out, coming around me in hard waves, gripping me with her pleasure and dragging me to release with her.
I come with her name on my lips and our future stretched out before us.
Yeah, I’m going to have to ask her to marry me again. I’ll do it with a ring and down on one knee. I’ll set up a camera so she can show her mom and dad and Helen too. And then it’s going to be happily ever afters all around.
ABBY ~ FOUR YEARS LATER
I SHOULD KNOW better than to doubt Hank Wagner. When the man has a vision, he makes it happen.
I wave our giant foam team number over my head and cheer with the crowd as Hank runs up the stairs to our seats. It’s the first match for our robot alliance and one of the teams we’re up against swept nationals last year.
When he gets to our seats, he drops a quick kiss to my lips and then looks down to where his big hand rests over my six months’ pregnant stretched belly.
He can’t stop touching it, can’t walk by without running his hand in a slow circle around it, can’t come in for a hug without cradling it. He wants a girl, but I want a little boy. And so does Mickey, our thirteen-year-old adopted son, who is grinning up at me, shaking his head at his dad’s goofy smile.
“Mick, you seeing this?” He tears his eyes away from the floor long enough to make sure Mickey can see. “We’re hitting every ball we fire. And Rhonda is killing it as the driver. You called it with her the very first practice, didn’t you?”
Mickey’s cheeks burn red, but I can see the pride in his eyes and it brings tears to mine. Our little family watches together, and when our alliance takes the win, Hank and Mickey exchange buoyant high fives and then pull me in for a hug that ends with Mickey giving my belly a gentle pat.
Our home is in Bearings. Not the little house with the red door on Sixth, but the big house Hank and I built on a property that backs up to the preserve. Hank still works from his office three days a week but is enjoying being semi-retired at thirty-two. I gave up my teaching position at BHS last year and have been running several reading programs in the city and surrounding towns. Just like Hank promised, I’ve never been happier.
This is the life we want. The future that was every bit worth the wait.
Thank you for reading HARD CRUSH! Want to stay in the know about all my new releases? Sign up for my newsletter and follow me on BookBub and Amazon. And if you loved Hank & Abby, please consider sharing your thoughts on Amazon or Goodreads. Every review makes a huge difference :-)
COMING IN JUNE
Get ready for Greg Baxter to
hit the ice in
DIRTY PLAYER
(Available for Preorder now)
Want to get in on my reader group? Click here to join the party--we’d love to have you!!
More by Mira Lyn Kelly on Kindle...
DARE TO LOVE
TRUTH OR DARE (Dare To Love, Book 1, Molly & Ty)
TOUCH & GO (Dare To Love, Book 2, Ava & Sam)
NOW & THEN (Dare To Love, Book 3, Brynn & Ford)
THE WEDDING DATE
MAY THE BEST MAN WIN (The Wedding Dates, Book 1, Jase & Emily)
THE WEDDING DATE BARGAIN (The Wedding Dates, Book 2, Max & Sarah)
THE WAKING UP
WAKING UP MARRIED (Waking Up, Book 1, Megan & Connor)
WAKING UP PREGNANT (Waking Up, Book 2, Darcy & Jeff)
UNCONNECTED NOVELS
ONCE IS NEVER ENOUGH (Nichole & Garrett)
NEVER STAY PAST MIDNIGHT (Levi & Elise)
THE S BEFORE EX (Ryan & Claire)
FRONT PAGE AFFAIR (Payton & Nate)
WILD FLING OR A WEDDING RING (Cali & Jake)
Acknowledgements...
I’d like to thank Zoe York, Lexi Ryan, Adriana Anders, Annika Martin and the rest of the Slack girls who support my belief that writing is a team sport. My editors... Jennifer Miller, Arran McNicol from Editing 720, Kenneth Zink from Absolute Editing, and Sarah from Pretty Little Book Promotions. My eagle eye readers... Michelle, Lisa, Crystal, and Emilie. GIVE ME BOOKS and IamaBookHoarder for helping me get the word out about HARD CRUSH. My early readers... Leisha S, Jessica A, Megan M, Helene C, and Samantha P for all the feedback. All the girls from my awesome reader group. The Romance Divas, Hey Girl Coaching, Sky Warren, Indie Tea, and JA Huss for being such amazing resources for authors. My son, Alex, for lending me his glasses. Nikki Mallak for answering my classroom questions. And all the friends and family who have supported me along my way.
But especially, I’d like to thank you, my reader. You are the reason I do what I do!
((hugs))
Mira
ABOUT MIRA...
Hard core romantic, stress baker, and housekeeper non-extraordinaire, Mira Lyn Kelly is the USA TODAY bestselling author of more than a dozen sizzly love stories with over a million readers worldwide. Growing up in the Chicago area, she earned her degree in Fine Arts from Loyola University and met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy… only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her back home. Having spent her twenties working and playing in the Windy City, she’s now settled with her husband in rural Minnesota, where their four amazing children and two ridiculous dogs provide an excess of action and entertainment. When she isn’t reading, writing, or running the kids around, she loves watching movies and the Chicago Blackhawks, blabbing with the girls, and cooking with her friends and family.
AUTHOR LINKS
Website: https://www.miralynkelly.com/
Join my reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MiraLynKellyPJParty/
Facebook Profile (The chatty stuff): https://www.facebook.com/miralynkelly
Facebook Page (Strictly book news): https://www.facebook.com/MiraLynKelly.Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miralynkelly/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/miralynkelly
Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3388918.Mira_Lyn_Kelly
Mira’s Newsletter: https://www.miralynkelly.com/newsletter
Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mira-lyn-kelly
Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/miralynkelly
Mira Lyn Kelly, Hard Crush
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends