“You coulda just pulled her hair,” he says, a smile flirting with his lips. Those wonderfully talented lips that I want to kiss right this moment. That I want to kiss for the rest of my life.
“I didn’t want to betooobvious,” I say with a grin.
“You were jealous.”
I blink up at him. “Are you surprised?”
“Honestly? Yeah. A little.”
That makes my chin jerk back. “Why? I mean, we’re a thing now, aren’t we?”
He cocks his head, still swaying me to the beat. “A thing?”
“You know.” I pinch his shoulder through his jacket. “Only seeing each other. Not seeing anyone else.”
His lids drift to half-mast. His voice goes low and liquid. “If that’s what you want, Maggie May, all you gotta do is ask.”
“Luc.” I bat my lashes. “Will you be my boyfriend? Pretty please?”
He regards me for a while. Long enough that all the teasing goes out of me. Long enough that I go light-headed from holding my breath. Finally he says, “Woman, I’ve been your boyfriend since the first moment I saw you. You just didn’t know it.”
There’s a pressure in my chest that slowly slides up my throat. I don’t realize it’s three little words until they burst from me. “I love you.”
He stops swaying, his dark eyes sharp on my face. “I love you too, Maggie May.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I mean, I’minlove with you, Luc. Like, hearts and flowers. Head over heels. Swept all the way off my feet.Thatkind of love.”
His Adam’s apple bounces in his throat. He slowly leans forward to kiss my forehead and whisper, “I’m in love with you too, sweetheart.”
I didn’t realize I was scared I might not hear him say the words back until this moment. Now relief is a warm wave that bowls me over and fills me up.
He holds me to him for a while longer, his lips resting on my forehead. We’re both overcome by the simplicity and magnitude of our declarations. Then he straightens, and the love I see shining in his eyes is a lighthouse. Calling me to him. Calling me home.
That’s it. That’s what this feeling is when I’m with him. It’s home.He’shome.
“What do we do?” I ask, the warmth of his breath lingering on my forehead. “About Cash, I mean? Should we tell him now? Wait until after he’s gone to rehab?”
“I reckon we should tell him next Saturday when we do the intervention. Maybe it’ll make him more likely to go. You know, time away from us. Time to adjust to this new reality where you and I are…”
“Together,” I finish for him when he trails off.
He smiles sweetly. “I like that word.Together.”
Me too. It sounds right. Itfeelsright.
“Okay. So next Saturday,” I agree, although it breaks my heart to think of Cash submitting to rehab simply as a means to escape us. That the joy Luc and I have found in each other might cause him pain is a terrible thing to consider.
My eyes search him out, and I find him at the back of the room, talking to Vee. I tense, waiting for the fireworks to start. But to my surprise, Vee places a hand on his arm and nods. Then she turns away and disappears into the crowd. Cash watches her go before emptying his flask down his throat. Then he, too, melds into the sea of partygoers.
What was that all about?I wonder.
Then the song changes, and Luc breaks in to my thoughts. “So what was it?” he asks.
“Hmm?” I ask distractedly. “What was what?”
“What was the thing I did that made you fall for me? Was it…” He leans forward and whispers something blush-worthy in my ear. Something he did to me only last night.
“No!” I slap his arm, glancing around, scandalized that someone might have heard. Thankfully, no one is staring at us in slack-jawed shock. “For the record, I didn’t fall for you. You tripped me. And not by doing…thatthing.” I bite my lip to stop my smile. “Although, that thing is pretty amazing, and you should do it again soon.”
