I Stripped to Keep My Boyfriend in School, and He Sold Me to the Man My Brother Died Owing novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: Mine

Iris's POV

I asked him that night at the lodge, out loud, in front of the fire.

I had not planned the words.

I had ridden up the shore in his truck with my brother and my mother in the back seat.

Helmi had said she would not sleep in her own house with her son in it for the first time in two years and not look at him all night.

So we put them in the big room over the kitchen, one bed for each.

The housekeeper came out in her robe and held my mother's hands for a long time without a word.

At ten the house went quiet.

I came downstairs in socks and a gray sweatshirt of his and found him in the great room.

He stood at the hearth with one arm on the stone, and the fire was low.

He had a glass of water in his hand, and he did not drink it.

"They're asleep," I said.

"Good," Toby said.

"Ma's holding Matti's hand in her sleep. I looked in."

"Good," he said again, and his voice was thick.

I walked across the pine floor and stopped in front of him.

He did not move.

He had not touched me since the church steps.

He had driven us home and carried my mother's bag and hung my brother's hat on a hook.

He had not once let his hand land on me.

I understood he would stand there until the fire went out.

"You said you came to be asked," I said.

"Yes."

"Then I'm asking."

His eyes closed.

"What are you asking?" he said.

"I'm asking if you're mine."

He went completely still.

I watched him take in the whole weight of that word.

For three years he had owned a seat, a club, a yard, and a name that made men step off a sidewalk.

For three weeks he had owned nothing.

He had told me he no longer had the right to say it, and I had thought he was being dramatic.

← Chapter 21 · All chapters · Chapter 23 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend