“This was all I could swing for the night,” I joked, leaning up against the BMW Gavin’s parents bought him as a college graduation present. “It’s black at least.”
“Why did you do that?” His voice was pitched low, but it wasn’t out of anger.
It was desire.
“Becauseyou deserved it.” He stepped closer, and the lump in my throat grew larger, making my ability to speak disappear almost entirely. “Because I love you,” I admitted when he was only an inch away.
“But—”
“But nothing,” I defended, lifting my hand to his cheek. Stroking my thumb over his lower lip, I felt warmth rush over me. I hadn’t realized how cold I’d been since he walked away. “I meant whatI said in there. I miss them. I wish they were here, but they aren’t. You are. I am. And I wouldn’t change that for a damn thing. I love you the way you are. Flaws, mistakes, whatever you want to call them, they’re what make you who you are and they’re what brought you to me.”
“Can I say something?” As he spoke, he wrapped his hand around mine, pulling it away from his face. My heart stoppedbeating thinking he was still going to say goodbye. This wasn’t so big we couldn’t figure it out. I wanted to yell, to scream, to stomp my feet and throw a tantrum until he saw it from my point of view. But I figured that wouldn’t do me much good right now. So instead of any of those things, I nodded, biting my tongue, letting him speak. “I regret every minute of the night your parents died.”
I opened my mouth to stop him. This was not what I wanted to talk about. Nothing could change it. Why was he being so stubborn?
“Just let me finish. I might surprise you.” A smile pulled at his lips as he twined his fingers together with mine. “I regret everything about that night, except that it brought you to me. I don’t know how we made it.” He laughed as he spoke. “It’s an insanely crazy story,but it’s ours, and every time I think about all the twists and turns that brought us together, I can’t help but smile, knowing it was you I was meant to love all along.”
“You… you… love me?” I sounded like a bumbling idiot, but his words had rocked me to my core. I’d never said them before and I’d certainly never heard them before. This was all so new to me, but as I stood there watching hiseyes sparkle in the moonlight, I knew this was exactly how it was all supposed to happen.
“I love you,” he said, pulling our joined hands up to his lips. “More than I realized. But I’ve been thinking about it all, about your parents and how I reacted—”
“And you saw that you were being an ass, letting something that neither of us could change get in our way.” It was said half in jest half forreal, and luckily, he didn’t take too much offense in it.
“Yes,” he admitted, leaning his forehead against mine. “I was an ass. Of epic proportions. So thank you for pointing that out to me.”
“Anytime.” I smiled, reaching for his cheek once again. “One last thing,” I prompted.
“Anything,” he breathed his response, his sweet breath filling the centimeter of space between us.
“If you don’t kissme right now, I might have to take you in the back of this car and use my belt on you. Force you into submission,” I teased.
He withheld his kiss for a second longer, playing along with my joke. But when his lips captured mine, I knew they’d be his forever.
In all my life, I’d never figure out how I was lucky enough to meet a man like Noah. A man who took me, flaws and all, and built me up strongerthan I ever had been before.
A man who I knew I would love just as he was, who would love me just the same, for the rest of the days we’d be given here on this earth.
