“Please,” I whisper.
“It’s just you and me. Don’t overthink it. I’ve done enough overthinking for both of us. There isn’t any challenge we can’t find a solution for.Calm problem-solving, remember?”
He gathers my wet hair from my shoulders and neck, twisting it behind me before leaning in for a gentle kiss. “We willnotdissect every detail of the last year, and I’ll try not to obsess about what I should’ve done differently. I wanted you the minute you fell into my arms, and overthinking almost cost me everything. I won’t let it happen again.”
Tears pool in my eyes. “I feel so stupid.”
“No one should ever make you feel stupid for trying to love them, Lu.”
“You would never …”
“I. Will. Never.”
“I’m so sorry, Jude.” I’m ruining what has been one of the best days of my life.
“You don’t owe me an apology. He lied to you, and I didn’t tell the truth loud enough.”
“But I stayed with him when I knew. I think I always knew.”
“I understand.” He frames my face between his hands, swiping tears with his thumbs and kissing every doubt off my lips. “We’re fixing it now.”
“But I don’t want anything to change between us,” I blurt.
His familiar laugh soothes my panic.
“Nothing? Are you sure?” He grins and tugs me against his bare chest, relaxing into the sofa cushions. “We’ve already implemented a few changes, and I think it’s going pretty well. Don’t you?”
Heat radiates off him, and the steady pulse of his heart against my cheek is my new favorite song. Every part of my soul feels at home in a storm in the middle of the woods.
“How do youdothat? Anything I worry about …Poof. Gone.”
His laugh rumbles against me. “I’ve mentally debated every objection either of us could possibly have for the last year.”
I place a few innocent kisses near his collarbone and slide my hand over his shoulder, down his chest and along his side, resting my hand over the inked words that starred in my dreams this week—both awake and asleep.
I feel him suck in a breath, and his muscles tighten under my touch.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Keep that up and I’ll make Annie trade roommates.”
“What do the words say here?” I ask, close to his face so he can hear me over the relentless pounding on the metal roof.And because I want to stare at him.
Those sleek cursive words look like nothing more than a wavy line from a distance, but I know they say something. He doesn’t do anything without a reason.
He lifts a hand to draw a circle with his fingertip on the back of my shoulder blade before cradling my face.
“That’s an ironic question, Lu.”
His touch leaves a trail of fire that sends heat down my neck.
“You saw mine?” I whisper.
He swipes over the remaining tears as he presses his mouth to mine.
Is that a yes?I forget what we were talking about. I forgethowto talk.
This kiss is deliberate and intentional in a way I could’ve described in intricate detail before I had any right to know. He’s firm but gentle, tenderly leading me in a dance we already knew but never put into motion.
I know this kiss the way I know when it’s him opening my door or his footsteps in my kitchen. The exact way the couch sinks when he sits near me. And the way every problem in my life feels like something he could check off his to-do list in an hour if I’d just let him help.
