He halts, exhales then sets the basket of fries carefully on the counter. His arms drop to his sides.
“North is your heart.” His voice roughens even more. “You are my North. And my anchor. And I lost you because at one point, I treated you like a finish line instead of a fucking miracle.”
My hands shake. God, I want to believe him. I want to tear the walls down, and run straight into him, but the part of me that remembers that day—the betrayal, the humiliation—bites back hard.
“You should’ve been safe with me, you should’ve been sacred. And I lost you—the one thing in this life worth fighting for. But I willfight,Rorie. For every secret I should have protected. For every piece of you that still thinks love means betrayal. I’ll rip down every wall you build, and if you let me, I’ll build something better from the wreckage I left behind. However long it takes.”
“You can’t just show up with glitter and fries and expect everything to be fine,” I say, my voice trembling.
Suddenly, he drops to his knees, pleading. Right there. In the middle of my damn bookstore, wearing a shirt that looks like it was bedazzled by a drunk cupid. He’s there, with nothing to offer excepthim—raw, imperfect,real.
“I don’t want fine,” his tone is steady even as emotion thickens it. “I want messy. And complicated. Andhonest.I want late-night texts and stolen fries and grilled cheese with tomato soup. And stars.” Shaky now. “And you. I wantyou.”
My heart shatters and remakes itself all at once.
One deep breath. Then another.
Crossing the space between us, I crouch too. We’re eye to eye, chests heaving. His hand shakes when it lifts to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
I grab his wrist. Hold it there.
“You really think glitter and carbs are enough to fix this?” I whisper, a smile trembling at the edge of my mouth.
Nolan’s lips curve—hopeful, wild,his. “No. But it’s a start.”
His grin is devastating. The kind that once made me want to punch him and kiss him in the same breath.
He points to the fries and says, “Truce?”
A beat of silence.
And then—fuck it all—I pull him into a kiss so fierce, so desperate, that the whole universe tilts sideways.
The bell above the door rings again as the wind rushes in.
But we stay right there.
Home.
Exactly where we were always meant to be.
CHAPTER 58
ANCHOR ME
NOLAN
Outside the car window,snow dusts the dunes like powdered sugar, the ocean a silver stretch in the distance. The town is strung up in twinkle lights, wreaths on every lamp post, windows glowing gold and warm.
Everything is perfect. Or at least, as close to perfect as it can be when the person planning it is me, someone who definitely doesn’t do things the traditional way.
I pull down my mirror, check my reflection.
It’s funny. I’ve done this before. Stood in front of a mirror, adjusting my collar, rehearsing what I was going to say, planning a future I thought I wanted.
But this is different.Waydifferent.
This is her.
