Savannah bit her lip, tilting her head. “I'm pretty sure he did.”
Mallory smacked the couch. “I hate you.”
Savannah laughed, shaking her head. “We sat there, eating, talking, just being, you know? Then came the boat.”
“What boat?” Mallory scoffed.
Savannah’s heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. “God, Mal, it was perfect.”
Mallory clutched her pillow, ready to combust. “I want to fucking know, tell me.”
Savannah exhaled, tucking her feet under her. “So after breakfast, we spent the whole day together. Just us. No distractions, no rushing. And then, when the sun started going down, he tells me to wait while he goes to grab something. Next thing I know, I hear the low rumble of an engine, and there he is, pulling up in a boat.”
Mallory gasped dramatically, gripping Savannah’s arm. “No. No.”
Savannah nodded, smiling. “He just stood there, holding out his hand, and said, ‘You coming, Monroe?’”
Mallory groaned. “That’s it. I’m dead.”
Savannah laughed. “So I get on the boat, and he takes me out to this little cove where the water stretches for miles. There were these tiny sandbanks covered in seagrass, and the sky—God, the sky was melting into golds and pinks. And we just sat there, watching the sun go down, wrapped in a blanket, his arm around me like he was claiming the moment.”
Mallory exhaled, pressing a hand to her heart. “Savannah Monroe, if you don’t kiss that man senseless the next time you see him, I will physically fight you.”
Savannah chuckled, but then her voice softened. “That’s not even the best part.”
Mallory’s eyes went wide. “There’s more?”
Savannah nodded. “At one point, he just looks at me and says, ‘This is my favorite time of day for this spot.’”
Mallory blinked. “And?”
Savannah swallowed. “I asked him why. And he just looked at me and said, ‘Because it’s yours.’”
Mallory shot up. “What in the actual hell?!”
Savannah laughed. “He pointed toward the shore, and I realized where we were. Right in front of his house. Where everything started. And then he said it again—he meant it, Mal. He told me I deserve the ocean and the shore, and this was the best he could do.”
Mallory slapped a hand over her mouth. “I swear to God, Savannah, you better marry this man, or I will.”
Savannah laughed, warmth creeping up her neck. “It was the way he said it, Mal. Like he’d been carrying those words around for years.”
Mallory groaned, collapsing onto the couch. “No. I can’t. This is unreal. Thisman is writing poetry with his damn existence.”
Savannah sighed, her heart full. “It was… everything.”
Mallory fell back against the cushions. “This is some Christmas movie-level romance, and I’m losing my mind. Savy, I don’t think you get it. This isn’t just a guy you like. This is it. This is the story that people dream about.”
Savannah laughed, shaking her head, but her chest tightened at the truth of it. Because Chase meant it. Every damn word.
And for the first time, she let herself believe it.
Because Mallory was right.
This was it.
And Savannah was finally ready to let herself have it.
Later that night, Savannah nestles beneath the cool sheets, staring at the ceiling, her heart still tangled in the aftermath of Chase Montgomery.
