Cade lowered his forehead to mine. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” I murmured.
Everyone watched us. Our families. Our friends. Our foes.
Though we didn’t care. Nothing mattered except for him and me.
Dancing together after being separated for months was a statement. A way of letting the crowd know we were together again. You could tear us apart, but we’d still find our way back to one another.
We were meant to be. Now and forever.
“How’s your ankle?” He glanced down at my heels.
“It’s feeling okay. I iced it. Still a bit tender, though.”
“I’ll kiss it better soon.”
“You promise?”
“Have I ever broken one, Ella?”
“No,” I whispered. “You never have.”
“I never will either.”
It was spoken with such strong passion. I smiled and rested my head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his calming scent.
“There’s something I want to say,” he rasped. “Will you hear me out?”
I couldn’t deny him when he implored with all the humility he possessed.
I nodded in a silentyes.
The familiar calluses of his palms tickled me as he cupped my face, tilting it back so I could see all the affection swirling in his eyes. “Ella, meeting you changed the course of my life. I’ve never known true yearning until I laid eyes on you. Not only were you the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, but you became the embodiment of all my dreams. Becoming your friend first was one of the greatest joys of my existence. You showed me the meaning of friendship, love, and cared for me like no one ever had. I fell hard for you and became exceedingly restless with every passing day because I wanted you as more than a friend. I wanted you as my girl.”
I smiled, remembering how desperate I was to add the wordboybeforefriend.
“And when I finally had you, Ella, that yearning was never fully satiated. Days, hours, minutes, seconds. None of it was ever enough with you. You consumed my every thought, every breath, every heartbeat. And you still do. I never thought I’d have to experience life without you—the only girl who made me feel like all my parts, no matter how dark and broken, were worth loving—but I have and I can say that I’ve hated every moment of it. I know I can survive without you, but I will onlyliveif I have you by my side. You strengthen me. You challenge me. You make me feel alive, happy, and whole. Now that the past is behind us, will you give me the honour of having you once more? Because you’re it for me. I love you with every piece of my heart, Ella.”
I swooned from his confession.
“Mi corazón.” I caressed my fingers over his chiseled jawline. “I love you too. I never stopped loving you, despite how hard I tried. It’s impossible. You’re etched in every corner of my soul. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t want to survive without you either, Cade. I want to live with you and I want to uphold every promise we made to each another.”
Cade’s blue eyes were vivid with emotions. Still holding myface, he kissed my forehead and reminded me of our most important vow. “You and I, in this lifetime and all the ones to come,mo chuisle.”
“You and I. Always.”
We kissed on it.
A maelstrom of tender feelings erupted like confetti inside of me as we righted every wrong in our story.
Breaking away, Cade whispered, “Are you ready to get out of here?”
In case my family asked about my whereabouts, I knew my girls would cover for me. “Yes.”
The second we stepped outside, Cade unexpectedly swung me into his arms. I laughed with delight as he carried me to his Ferrari like a dark prince from a twisted fairy tale, stealing his princess away forever.
“Cade, where are we going?”
