“Nope.”
“And you’re going to hire a lawyer for me and take Damon down?”
“Yep.”
“What’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch.”
“What am I missing?”
Billie. We need to talk about Billie.
“There’s one thing we still have to talk about.”
Her face drops. “Billie.”
I nod. “I want to discuss this, and then I don’t want to talk about her ever again. You’re the only person I love. The only person I want. I don’t want you to question it going forward.”
“Then why did you kiss her?”
“I did not kiss her. She was super drunk and threw herself on me, and I grabbed her by the waist because she was going to fall, and she kissed me. I tried to pull back, but she had me on lockdown.”
Charlotte takes a deep breath. “She sure did have you on lockdown.”
“I did not kiss her back.” I’m looking into Charlotte’s eyes, trying to find any doubt. If we are going to be together, she needs to believe me so we can move forward.
“Why was she in the coffee shop?”
“My bad luck. She showed up out of nowhere and pulled a chair up. No one invited her to sit.”
Charlotte says nothing.
I cup her face in my hands. “Charlotte, I’m telling the truth.”
She kisses me, and I feel all her belief and trust in me. I know this is our moment. “Are you ready to step off the roller coaster once and for all?”
“Together?”
“Yes, together.”
She nods.
“No more going backward. Everything from now on is forward. You and I, together.”
“You promise?” she whispers.
I smile and brush her lips with mine. “I promise.”
“Good because I love you. Don’t ever forget me again.”
“I won’t. I love you. Don’t ever question it again.”
EPILOGUE
Charlotte
A few weeksafter the accident, I went back to work. During my time off, I disclosed to HR what happened the night Damon recorded the video. Xander didn’t waste any time getting an attorney involved, and Damon recanted his claim I was harassing him, and we still were involved within a few weeks.
