“Would that be such a bad thing?”

I snuggle into him. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

He chuckles, then he goes silent again.

“You’re an incredible woman, Delaney, and I should tell you that more often.”

I turn, pulling out of his arms so I can see his face. I study him and say softly, “I think I already know that’s how you feel.”

His eyes scan my face. “There’s something else I should have told you by now, too.”

My heart starts pounding and I swallow, studying his face.

“I love you,” he says, his voice thick. “I’ve never said that to a single person in my life and I thought I never would, but I mean it with you, Delaney. I love you.”

“You know, handsome, I think I might just love you too.”

He grins and brings his lips down onto mine, kissing me long and deep. We’re right into that kiss when someone yells, “Look out!”

Jax pulls back and we turn to see a big round rock tumbling down the hill towards us. There’s a bunch of teenagers at the top of the hill, yelling out and waving their hands. There’s another pile of rocks that seem to have been propped up to make some sort of rock wall and they’ve clearly dislodged it, acting like, well, teenagers.

Jax moves quickly, flipping both of us just as the rock tumbles past. We roll a few times, and I cry out, laughing at the same time. We come to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Jax on top of me, both of us laughing loudly. The teenagers at the top call out their apologies, and Jax waves a hand at them, still laughing.

“What other first date have you had where you can say you’ve had to dodge rolling rocks while making out?” I giggle.

“Nothing is ever normal with you.” Jax grins down at me. “And would you look at that, kitten, I think I just saved you again.”

I snort. “Don’t let it go to your head, it’s the last time.”

He cups my face in his hands. “You better get used to it, baby, because I’m going to spend the rest of my life saving you.”

“Never.” I grin.

He leans down and kisses me and the fireworks go off above us, and right here and now, we create a perfect moment. I don’t tell Jax that I’m more than happy for him to save me for the rest of my life, because even the strongest of us need to have someone watching our backs. My someone is Jax, and he doesn’t know it yet, but his someone … is me.

It always has been and it always will be.