Good. I don’t plan on walking away this time.
I lower my mouth to her forehead, and, after kissing it, I whisper through a thick ball of emotion, “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Alara pulls away just enough to look up at me. The sight of her tear-stained cheeks pains me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all those things to you, and I should’ve let you talk it through with your coach instead of being selfish. I’m sorry for listening to the conversation and not giving you time to process the news. I take back everything I said.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “I forgive you. We both said things to hurt each other.”
She gives her head a small shake, a divot appearing between her brows. “It’s not okay. I was mean and blindsided by what I wanted, but I barely considered whatyouneeded.” She toys with the buttons of my shirt, worrying her lip. I don’t like it when she does that, so I softly brush the pad of my thumb over it. “And, if you’re leaving, we can figure this out. I can fly out to see you when it’s slower at Rock Snow. Or I could look at colleges in Utah. I’m just saying that I don’t want us to be over because—”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Her wide, surprised-filled eyes flicker up to mine. “What?”
Winding my arms around her waist, I hoist her up. The walkto the kitchen island is short, but she wraps her legs around my hips, her fingers sifting through my hair. When I put her down, we’re almost at eye level.
I brace my hands on either side of her hips, holding her gaze. Giving her every ounce of honesty I possess. “I’m not leaving. At least not yet. I called Coach and told him I wanted to finish my recovery here, because I have no intention of leaving now. He’s understanding and more than fine with it. Besides, it’d be a dick move to make Dr Ellis and his wife move away when they’re expecting in the spring.”
My home is here – the place I tried to escape years ago but which won me over as soon as I opened my eyes to see its true beauty. My home is Alara. She’s my safe place.
I can see shock and pure joy swirling in those hazel eyes I love so much. Gently cupping her face, I brush a few wisps of hair away from her cheekbones, taking the time to study her face like she’s my favorite work of art while she absorbs what I’ve said.
Despite the fatigue marring her features, she looks hopeful – there’s a string of light I never want to dim again. Her lips are parted, calling out for me to claim them with the whisper of a kiss, but I have something else to say first.
“I am sorry for everything I said,” I continue. “I regret every single word that came out of my mouth. I didn’t mean any of it, because the truth is that you’re everything to me, Alara. What we have is everything to me. I knew we would never be able to keep it casual because yousawme the moment you laid eyes on me, and it terrified me. But it also put me back together, and I didn’t realize how much I needed you until you weren’t in my arms.”
She takes a shaky breath. Her hands find my ribs. Her touch lights me on fire, brings me back to life.
“That comment you made about not being enough for me?” When she uttered those words, it broke my heart, and that was when I started crying. She doesn’t see what I see. She doesn’tsee how incredible she is, how she’s a ray of sunshine I love to bask in after a cloudy day. She doesn’t see how beautiful she is, and that kills me. She looks down, but my hold over her jaw forces her to keep her gaze locked to mine. “Don’t you ever say that again, you hear me? You’re more than enough, Alara. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted. I am in awe of how strong and resilient you are. How caring, loving, and gentle your soul is. Seriously, I don’t deserve you. But never, ever, ever again will you say you’re not enough.”
Sniffling, she nods. Delicately, I thumb her tears away, and she leans into my touch. “You’re such a beautiful man,” she whispers. “Promise me we will talk it through the next time we get in a fight. No more walking away. No more mean, regrettable words.”
“I promise. I hated walking out while you were hurting. I’m never letting you go ever again.”
She smiles, the sight of it feeding my soul. “I know you won’t.”
She’s always seen the best in me even when the world thought the worst. She’s given me multiple chances at starting over when I didn’t deserve them. And, for that, I’m going to give her everything – every piece of my soul, every part of my heart.
Pulse pounding, fingers trembling as they hold her gorgeous face, I lower my forehead to hers, closing my eyes for a beat. “Alara,” I begin in a murmur, finding her gaze again, “I am head over heels in love with you, and I am staying. I’m staying because you make me feel alive, you make me laugh, you make me feel loved. Give me one more month of laughter and complete craziness, and when it’s time for me to go to Utah? You’re coming with me. We’re packing my shit up over there and moving back here. I’ll look for a smaller place in Utah for when I have to stay for long weeks of training, and I’ll visit you as often as I can then, but I want to make Blue Ridge my home base again. To be with you.”
“Diego . . .” A gorgeous, breathtaking smile lights up her face, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “Are you sure?”
“One thousand percent. Just say yes.” My lips brush hers. “We’re real, Alara. We’re so real. It was never casual. It was never fake.”
Her hands find my shoulders and glide up the sides of my neck. If she feels the way my pulse is hammering beneath her palm, she doesn’t give any indication. Her wide, mesmerizing eyes bounce between mine, and I can see the undiluted adoration she has for me.
“Yes,” she whispers, and that one word alone makes me the happiest man alive. “I love you, Diego.”
And that’s all I need to know to crush my lips to hers. She gasps, and I swallow the sound like it belongs to me. The entire world blurs, and it’s just me and Alara, finding our way back to each other.
Our lips move in perfect synchronicity, a slow dance that’s the opposite of my heartbeat’s rhythm. She’s soft and pliant against me, taking and giving. The feelings in my stomach flutter, like birds batting their wings in a wild escape. This connection between us, this chemistry, this love – it’s all undeniable.
It’s absolutely crazy how, in such a short amount of time, she’s become the missing piece I’d been looking for my whole life. How she’s become the owner of my stupid heart.
Fuck. I missed her. I missed her so much.
“I love you.” I breathe the words against her mouth, which makes her smile. I peck her lips again, again, and again, utterly addicted to her. Then, I wrap my arms around her shoulders, keeping her close for as long as I can.
“Your heart,” she says breathily. “It’s beating so fast.”
