“Hey there, firecracker,” he rasps.
I’m so happy and giddy and relieved, that I sob and laugh at once.
Emotion bubbles over inside of me. And then I finally say the words that I’ve been dying to say. The words imprinted in my heart and soul.
“I love you, Liam.”
Chapter 49
Liam
Imust be dreaming.
There’s no way Kendall is here, standing in my hospital room, holding my hand, telling me she loves me.
This must be a side effect of my concussion.
But then I close my eyes, savoring the soft feel of her hand in mine. When I open my eyes and look at her, emotion surges through me.
I take in her teary eyes, her wobbly lips, the pain in her gaze.
With my free hand, I reach up and wipe away the tears streaking her cheeks.
She’s here. And she loves me.
“You love me?” I ask, still shocked.
She flashes a wobbly smile and nods. “I love you, Liam. So, so much.”
I grin. “Well, that works out because I’m so fucking in love with you, firecracker.”
She lets out a snotty laugh. But a second later, her smile fades. “I’m so sorry I didn’t say it back when you told me that you loved me. I just…I couldn’t believe it. It all felt too good to be true. This amazing guy is in love with me and is willing to doanything to make me happy?” She shakes her head. “That kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me. That’s the stuff of fairytales.”
I grin. “Or love poems. Or a Jane Austen novel.”
She chuckles. “Yeah, that too.”
I brush her hair out of her face.
“But then my aunt talked some sense into me.”
I smile. “She did?”
Kendall nods. “I realized what a huge mistake I made.” She pauses to swallow. “And then I saw what happened to you tonight…”
She trails off, a fresh stream of tears tumbling down her cheeks. I wipe them away.
“Just the thought of losing you made me crazy,” she says, her voice wobbling. “I couldn’t bear it. I thought you were…” She sobs.
“Hey.” I cup her face in my hands. “I’m here, sweetheart. I’m okay. It’s just a concussion. A small one.”
She makes a sound that’s somewhere between a snotty chuckle and a scoff. “A small one, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s gonna take a lot more than that to bring me down.”
She smiles. I hold her face in my hands once more and press a soft kiss to her forehead. Warmth courses through me.
“You’re really okay?” she asks.
