A gentle smile played on her lips as she raised her eyes to his. “You have no idea how weak at the knees you made me that day. You were a smash!”
“What?” He gaped.
Sam gave a small shrug, her cheeks reddening adorably. “I could hardly string a sentence together. Remember how I stammered?”
“I didn’t notice,” Finn said, his stomach lightening. “I was too afraid that I was making a fool of myself.”
“You weren’t,” Sam said. She scrunched her nose and leaned forward. “I was too busy wondering who this hot guy was and trying to figure out why my body was on fire—in places I’d never realized could go on fire. And if I would ever see him again, and if I did, what would happen. Because all I could think of was that I really wanted to kiss you—I still do.”
Finn’s mouth dropped open. His hands felt as if they were clammy, but he didn’t want to let go of hers. He couldn’t let go of her now, not if his life depended on it. She tilted her head and smiled at him. “Say something, please. Don’t leave me hanging.”
He was hoarse when he spoke. “You know I fell for you that day, but Sam …” He paused and let out a small laugh. Shaking his head he continued, “Gah! I can’t seem to get the words out right.”
“Take your time,” Sam said softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Her quiet voice stilled him. “Do you promise? Not to go anywhere? Because, Sam, I can’t imagine a world without you in it—next to me. And it’s got nothing to do with what’s happened between us here, and everything to do with the fact that from the moment I met you, you felt like home to me. And every day since, every time we talk, train, or just hang out, I fall deeper in love with you—it’s you, everything about you. How you see things, how you challenge me, how you live—even when you’re struggling—every minute of you makes me want to be a better man, one that you might one day take more seriously.” He stopped talking and flopped back in his seat as if worn out from saying what was in his heart.
“Damn,” he said suddenly as her face changed from soft, to smiling, to puzzled. “I didn’t mean to tell you all of that. Forget about it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sam asked, her voice gritty. “Hell, Finn, that’s a speech for the ages. Wow.”
He looked down, rubbing his chin. “I don’t want to put pressure on you.”
“You’re not putting any pressure on me.” Sam leaned forward, her hands on his chest, until she was inches from his face. “Look at me, Finn Bradley. Please.”
Raising his eyes to her, Finn swallowed. It was beginning to snow even heavier, almost a blizzard, and everyone was getting up to leave, but Sam just leaned against him, her face tilted to his, as the rug slipped from her knees.
“I have one regret,” she said. “We should never have made that pact.”
“No?” He quivered as her arms slid around him.
“No,” she said with a giggle. “Finn Bradley, how can you declare yourself so damn passionately to me one minute, and the next act as if nothing was said. Put your arms around me, for God’s sake.” She laid her head on his chest. “It’s not as if we don’t know one another.”
Finn didn’t need another invitation. He pulled her closer to him, snuggling her down into his arms as if she was the missing part of him. Her soft sighs against his chest filled him with pride, and joy, and the urge to tell Coach Harrington exactly what he could do with his threats. Finn pressed his cheek against the top of Sam’s head, and the outside world faded away.
“Sam,” he whispered.
“Yeah?” she murmured back.
He paused, letting the moment settle in his heart. Held back the words he was longing to say to her. Was this the place to do it—a rustic little bistro in a side street of a small Italian town on a snowy day? He couldn’t hold in the smile that took over his face. If this wasn’t the most perfect place in the world then nowhere was.
“Sam, I love you.”
Sam sat up. She gazed at him, her eyes lit up with that emerald glitter that he loved. She grinned at him. “About time.”
A bubble of laughter burst from him, and he held her tighter as his shoulders shook.
“Agreed.”
“Finn?” She touched her nose against his. He held his breath as her lips brushed against his. “I love you too.”
The surge of joy that filled him at the sound of her saying that to him was immeasurable. He wanted to punch the air, to kick up the snow, to yell until the whole of the Alps was an avalanche.
“In the great words of Taylor Swift,” she said as he grinned like a Cheshire cat. “It’s been a long time coming.”
“And I promise you this—you always will be.” He laughed gently, ducking as she slapped him playfully.
“You said it wasn’t about … what we got up to!” Sam joked. “But I sure as hell hope that some of it is …”
