Beth nodded slowly. “Christmas is about Jesus. And family. Two things you’d turned your back on.”
“I didn’t expect you to understand.”
“No, but I do. My sister? Ring a bell? I’ve watched the wild lifestyle. And Bryce... twice a month is a lot.”
Her eyes dropped to the last name on the list.
Elizabeth – the only one that matters.
Tears stung again.
“Why didn’t you ever ask me out?”
Bryce blinked. “What?”
“All the nurses warned me about you. Said you were aplayer. A flirt who would try to ‘wine and dine’ me. But not once did you ever ask me out. You never even tried. Why?” Her voice was quieter now, laced with something more vulnerable.
“Was it because I wasn’t your type?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“But you said earlier... I wasn’t your type.”
She wasn’t trying to trap him. She genuinely wanted to understand—but the words had lodged somewhere deep, somewhere tender, and they stung more than she expected.
He stepped closer, his voice low and sincere.
“Lizzy, not being my type was a compliment. From the very beginning, I saw something in you I hadn’t seen in anyone else. You were strong. Steady. You had a faith that was real. I was... the opposite of all of that.”
She looked down, arms folded tightly across her flat chest. “So, you didn’t date Christians.”
“Not ones like you,” he admitted. “Some of them said they were—but they were chasing me, not the other way around. A few even lost their virginity to me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not proud of that, but I never tried to be the reason someone walked away from their faith. If that makes sense.”
Beth finally looked up at him, confusion still flickering in her eyes.
“So... to avoid corrupting me you ignored me?”
“I respected you too much to pull you into my mess,” he said softly. “I told myself I was protecting you—but the truth is, I was protecting myself. I knew I’d fall for you if I let myself get close. I couldn’t risk bringing being the reason you walked awayfrom God.”
“And now?”
He smiled faintly, eyes full of something unshakable. “Now I thank God every day that He gave me a chance to love you the right way.”
He cupped her face. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She blinked, caught off guard by the sincerity in his voice.
“Your eyes. That little nose. Your mouth. And your legs…” A low, appreciative rumble escaped his throat.
“My legs?”
Bryce grinned. “You in my sweats is the most distracting thing I’ve ever seen.”
Beth’s laugh was shaky, but real.
“I find every part of your body beautiful,” he whispered. “But it’s your heart that undid me. Your grace and your strength. Now that I’m praying again, I thank God every day for putting you in my path—even if I didn’t deserve you.”
Silence stretched between them, comfortable and heavy all at once.
