“Do you think she would’ve liked it?”
“She would’ve loved it.” My attention bounces back to her. “And you.”
“Cute girl on the cover, don’t you think?”
“Cute?” I scoff. “How dare you call her cute.” I flip through the pages, finding her article. “This means so much to me, Mills.”
She smiles in a way that is so sexy, so seductive, all I can think about is getting her out of here, peeling her out of that sinfully tight dress, and letting my body tell her just how much I fucking missed her.
“And you look stunning tonight.”
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she says. “I was hoping to meet you at the house before the ceremony, but the drive took me so much longer than I expected. I hit traffic in Nebraska. Who hits traffic in Nebraska?” She toys with the hair at the back of my neck. “I did the interview on Monday, but then I had to stay in LA for the photographer to take new photos and Violet was able to slip me an early copy before I left. I wanted to surprise you with it.”
“This is the best surprise I could’ve asked for, but how much does Violet hate me?”
She bobs her head from side to side. “She’s not stoked about losing her top-earning client, but she’s happy for me. She apparently had her suspicions all summer long.”
“And your contracts?”
“The only one that was set in stone was with Maven and she dissolved it on the spot when I told her I wanted to leave.”
I can’t hold back my smile. “This is really what you want?”
I know it is, but fuck if I don’t love to hear her say it.
“This is what I want. This life together. The three of us. You keep me grounded, Kai, and I’ll keep you wild.”
I nod before sealing it with a kiss. “Deal.”
A knock sounds at the back door of the house and we both turn to find Isaiah, Zanders, Stevie, Ryan, Indy, and Rio with their faces pressed up to the glass, watching us.
“Jesus, fuck,” I exhale as Miller waves at them. “Did they all know?”
“Only Indy. I couldn’t show up to someone’s wedding without RSVPing.”
“Mama!” Max calls out from the other side of the glass, and when we look back, Ryan’s got him hoisted on his arm to get a good view.
His blue eyes are wide with excitement, looking right at the woman he and I love so much. He smacks the glass as if he it’ll help him get to her.
“Max is here?” Miller asks on a gasp.
He claps in excitement. “Mama! Mama!”
Miller drops her forehead to mine, eyes closed in relief, speaking quietly. “Today was a good day.”
There were so many times I said that this summer with the fear that they were going to all end, but now . . .
“They’re all going to be good days, Miller.”
I hold her, this girl I’m hopelessly in love with, and I only fall further when she places a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth and whispers, “Let’s go get our boy.”
With her hand in mine, I lead her to the back door, opening it to let her out first.
The small crowd is excited to see her, but she doesn’t hesitate to go right to my son, and just like the first day they met, Max is eager to get in her arms, throwing himself off Ryan’s body in her direction.
“Hi, baby,” Miller whispers to him, a bit emotional as her forehead falls to his. “Oh, how I missed you.”
She slightly bounces with him, taking her time. Our friends give them space, heading back to the dance floor with a squeeze of her arm or a wave of acknowledgment in her direction.
She smiles at them all, clearly looking forward to catching up, but right now her attention is solely on my son.
“Mama,” Max whispers, his little fingers tracing her inked arm.
“I’m here, Bug, and I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
Standing on the back porch, I lean against a pillar and watch them, trying not to cry. But this moment is everything to me. I watch as everything falls into place, when our family becomes whole. How do I not get emotional over seeing the two people I love more than anything, find that same love in each other?
Max doesn’t have the vocabulary to express how much he missed her, how much he loves her, but you can see it in the way he looks at her, the way he melts onto her shoulder to hug her.
She’s everything to him, in the same way she is to me.
Miller sways with him, dotting soft kisses against his hair.
“Kai! Miller!” my brother calls out from the dance floor, waving us over to join.