Page 137 of Striking Range

I know I will still struggle. There will be a hundred moments in my future where I battle my self-worth, my insecurities, and my shame, but right now? I feel so fucking good.

Henry leaves Rockhill and hits the freeway.

“Thanks for driving me all the way to our new place,” I say. “Skylar had to go back this morning to be with Albert.”

Henry snickers. “I still can’t believe you guys named your dog Albert.”

“We heard enough of your jokes at the New Year’s party, asshole,” I reply.

Kelly and Henry think the name is hilarious, but I feel like it’s completely authentic to Skylar. It’s totally a name he’d pick out. Plus, Albert seems to love it.

“Oh, let me call Sky and tell him we’re on our way,” I add, pulling my new phone out.

It rings a few times before he answers, “Sup?”

“Hey, pup. We’re on our way.”

“Oh, thank god. Kelly won’t stop asking me when we’re getting them pizza for helping us move. Grab some on your way home?”

I’m grinning as I reply, “I got it. I’ll grab three.”

“Okay, thanks. I think I have all the boxes unpacked; we just need—hey! Albert stop! That is not a chew toy! Goddamnit, I gotta go. Love you.”

The call cuts out as a pleasant thrum moves through me. Visions of the past six months flash through my mind, starting with my possessiveness over Skylar and ending with this—us, together, in a home we’ve built with our chosen family.

I thought my entire life was planned out for me; I thought I would die under Ash’s thumb. But Skylar saved me.

The vicious, malicious pet I’ve had coiled around my throat since I was ten years old has wound tighter, dragging me into his viper’s nest.

I will spend the rest of my life in this bliss, free of what used to haunt me, lounging peacefully in a world we’ve created.

My eyes slide shut as I am loved, I am complete, I am safe repeats on a loop in my mind. There is a satisfaction that pulses through these facts; there is so much potential in every day that I am alive.

And as we inch closer and closer to Skylar, I feel that familiar sensation of overwhelming joy wash over me. It makes me want to cry; it makes me want to lie on the ground and soak it all in.

It is a gift to have found forever within him. It is a miracle to be where I am today. I am lucky—I can feel it in my bones and the part of me that is tethered to him.

I can hear it in his voice, in his anger and in his joy, that I will never be alone again. That he loves me so fully that I can never again feel empty.

What a wonderful feeling.

And what a beautiful thought, to know that this will be forever. That, until the last sunrise I witness, I will be here. With him.

Within striking range.