He nods stiffly.
“Do you trust yourself?” I ask. “To keep those promises, you have to trust yourself, baby. I can’t do that for you.”
He nods again. “I’m going to keep them. I trust myself to keep them, Lana.”
I brush my thumb up the line of his jaw. “Then I trust you to keep your promises.”
“What if I don’t deserve that?”
“What if you do?” I counter. “Because you do. Whoever told you second chances were easy, lied to you.”
Christian huffs a laugh. “Sorry.”
I put my forehead to his, my hand cupping the nape of his neck. “Christian?”
“Yeah.”
“Say you’re brave.”
“What?”
“Out loud,” I say. “Say it out loud.”
“I—I’m brave?”
“Say it like you mean it, Christian,” I chuckle.
“I’m brave,” he echoes.
“I’m strong.”
“I’m strong,” he repeats.
“I’m kind.”
“I’m kind.”
I kiss his cheek. “Keep saying those to yourself, baby. Because you are everything and more to me. You deserve to be those things to yourself too.”
“Can I make one more promise to you?” Christian whispers.
I nod.
“I promise to come to you when I need help,” he says. “When it gets hard and I’m not okay and I… I’ll come to you. And I’ll get the help I need if I need it.”
“I love that promise,” I say. “And I trust you to keep it.”
“I love you, Lana,” he breathes.
“I know.” I nestle my face into his neck and kiss his pulse before I breathe, “Good morning.”
“Good morning, baby.”
CHAPTER 18
Christian
“Lana, stop it,” I groan, walking toward my car. “I’m fine.”
