Grin and Beard It (Winston Brothers #2)

Jethro closed his eyes, a small grin curving his mouth, and whispered like it was a secret, “Thank you for being lost.”

I smiled and whispered in return, “Thank you for finding me.”

From now on, it was Jethro Winston and Sienna Diaz against the world, defying our history, ignoring the labels others might assign. If I became lost, I knew I could count on him to find me, and vice versa. We had faith in each other, and that’s all that mattered.

Our past would always be part of us, but it would never wholly define us, either together or as individuals. Each moment was a decision.

I laughed, though my throat was also tight with some emotion I couldn’t quite pin down. It was more than contentment. More than relief. More than joy. It was all of those things and more.

I decided it was love, because nothing else had ever come close to feeling this good.

Jethro Winston was my forever person. I would never be strong enough to let him go.

“Don’t do that,” Billy said, shaking his head emphatically. “Do it in public, or don’t do it at all. Don’t hide what you have. The lies will destroy you and her. It’ll turn what’s beautiful between you ugly.”

Without thinking I asked, “What’d you do to Claire?”

“I ran into somebody on Tuesday. Someone I used to know.”

But by the end of dinner, thanks in large part to Jethro, she’d relaxed.

We’d both relaxed.

And I discovered I had a little bit of a crush on Claire McClure.

I momentarily forgot how to blink because this Claire woman was gorgeous.

No. That’s not right.

She was fuckingly gorgeous. She was so gorgeous, her beauty deserved the f-bomb used as an adverb.