“I hope you can accept our apology and understand that it won’t happen again. I think we all have Markus in mind on this, and I feel we should all get along for him,” Lamar added, and Mekena nodded.

“I have no problem letting go of what happened and moving forward with you two, but I will not be disrespected,” she said sternly. She couldn’t believe how confident and strong she sounded. She was fighting for what she wanted. She wanted to be respected. She demanded it.

“We completely understand that,” Lamar added with a nod, and Yolanda did the same.

“We just have to get to know you. We judged you too early. You’re obviously a very successful girl. River said you’re the photographer for the Assassins.”

“I am,” she said proudly. “And I’ll travel with the team, so Markus and I won’t be apart. It will be great.”

Yolanda smiled. “As long as they sign him.”

“They will,” Mekena said proudly.

“I like the way you think,” Lamar said, cupping her shoulder with a smile, and she smiled back. “There’s my boy!”

They walked past Mekena as she turned, seeing Markus enter the room with Jayden behind him. He looked adorable, recently showered with his purple Assassins tee tucked into his jogging pants. He wore an Assassins hat low on his head, but she could see his eyes and they were right on her. His parents went to hug him, but he held up his hands. “One second.” Moving past them, which they did not like at all, he came to Mekena, wrapping her up in his arms, kissing her jaw as his hat pressed into her head. “You good?” he whispered, and she nodded, nuzzling her nose in his freshly washed neck.

“Great.”

“Were they nice? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take that long,” he said, and when she opened her eyes, his parents were watching them, displeasure on their faces.

“Everything is great,” she said as they parted. “I’m so proud of you.”

His eyes were lit up, his grin unstoppable as he held her gaze. “Thanks.”

“You were amazing.”

“I was,” he said matter-of-factly, cocky as all hell, and God, she loved him. When he added in the wink, she grinned.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” he said, kissing her hard on the lips. “Let me go say hi.”

“Go,” she said, kissing him once more, but instead of walking away, he took her hand and brought her with him. At that moment, she realized they were facing his parents as a team.

Just like they would do everything else in life.

Moving her hand up and down Markus’s chest, she exhaled loudly as the Nashville skyline sparkled in the windows of their apartment. God, she loved this apartment. When she first saw it, the white interior with the all-glass walls, she was completely in love. And when Markus loved it too, it was a done deal. She didn’t want to look anywhere else. The floors were dark hardwood and beautiful, but the place was empty. No furniture because they had nothing but suitcases, but that was fine. They were happy, and they would add to the apartment day-by-day, making it theirs.

Markus’s hand moved along her hip, rubbing it softly as his lips dusted her hair, and she felt so damn good.

“I hate this bed.”

“I know,” she laughed, looking up at him, her chin resting against his chest.

He had a lazy smile on his face, and she knew she mirrored him. Which was surprising after the night they had. Dinner with his parents had gone really well. They were very nice and kind of sucked up to her in front of Markus. But Mekena wasn’t stupid; she knew they hated her. But she didn’t care. She only cared what Markus thought, and he loved her completely. After coming home, she decided to show him how much she cared for him and made love to him on the very uncomfortable air mattress they both now decided was the bane of their existence. Especially when they were rocking it so hard, the air kept coming out.

“I mean, I don’t hate what we did, because holy shit, that was awesome, but I hate this bed.”

Giggling, she nodded as she nibbled on his pec. “The new bedroom suite will be here tomorrow.”

“Thank God,” he muttered, sliding his hand up her back and into her hair. “I love what we’re doing here.”

“What, in bed?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, and out of it.”

“I do too,” she agreed, kissing his pec.

“I love you, Mekena.”

“I love you,” she answered as he kissed her lips softly before lying back down and exhaling hard. He’d had a long night, kicked ass on the ice, dealt with his parents, and then rocked her world. “I’m surprised you’re awake.”

He scoffed. “I’m keyed up. Tonight was amazing.”

“It was. I’m so proud of my sexy star rookie,” she gushed, and he grinned at her.

“I couldn’t believe how great tonight went. I mean, I played my best on that ice. I was at home.”

“You were.”

“It was everything I dreamed of.”

“It was awesome. Really awesome. That play you made, sprawled out on the ice, I held my breath!”

“Yeah, I was scared I’d get a penalty.”

She smiled. “I could have gotten a sexy shot of you sitting in the box.”

“That would have been great on the wall.”

“Yeah, we could start a collage. We should do that.”

“As long as we do one of you falling off the trolley, I’m down.”

“Done.”

He laughed as she smiled happily, closing her eyes while she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. Seconds passed, and she swore she fell more in love with him. As she listened to the thudding in his chest, she had almost fallen asleep when he said, “My parents weren’t too bad.”

“No, they were nice,” she answered, opening her eyes as she swirled her fingers along his belly button.

“I think they like you.”

She scoffed. “They hate me, but they don’t want to lose you.”

“No one could hate you.”

She smiled as she sat up, looking down at him. “See, I thought that too, but then I met your parents and figured it didn’t hold true with them.”

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he smiled. “Well, I love you, and I don’t care that they don’t like you. Because I’m not in love with you for them, but for me.”