“No—”
“I need you, too, you know.” I lift my eyes, and he’s shaking his head, his jaw clenched. “I need you, too, Nico,” I repeat.
He holds my gaze, a million different emotions flickering in his gorgeous green eyes. It’s probably several seconds before he purses his lips and ducks his chin, his cheeks turning pink. Thenhe squeezes me a little and mumbles, “Hopefully Vera calls soon.”
I squeeze him back, and when his head settles on my chest again, my heart soars. He’s accepted it—that I need him, too—and he wants our future as much as I do.
It’s progress. All of it. Him even being here, in this position—waiting on a phone call about a job he’sgot, sitting having a normal conversation at a super busy airport, doing all of these things he maybe never thought he could do because he never believed in himself—it’s huge progress.
I glance toward our gate, where they’re just starting to board the first groups of priority passengers. No one’s paying attention to us, and so I lift my hand to touch his chin. He tilts his head back, and when our eyes meet, he smiles.
Warm fuzziness tickles through me. I bend down and press a brief kiss to his lips, and when I straighten back up, his eyes are gleaming.
“I love you,” I whisper.
He bites at his lower lip. “I love you, too.”
He rests his head against my chest again and closes his eyes.
Things get louder and a little more chaotic around us as they call the next group to board, and then the next. He keeps his eyes closed, his arm resting on my midsection and his breathing tightly controlled, though I can feel the tension creeping back into his shoulders. Finally, after another fifteen minutes or so, they call our group. Together, we stand and gather our things, then line up behind a mom trying to wrangle her three young children. Several others step into the line behind us, and I rest my hand on Nico’s back to reassure him when I see him tense up even more, his hand balling into a fist. That seems to help enough, though, because he twists his head to look up at me, trying for a small smile. He seems like he’s just about to say something when he suddenly stops, his eyes wide. He turns toward me, stuffing his hand in his pocket andpulling out his cell phone—which is buzzing with an incoming call.
“Shit, it’s her,” he says, staring at the phone as all the color drains from his face.
The line starts to move, and I set my hands on his shoulders—gently—and move us out of the way, motioning to the people behind us to go on ahead.
He glances up at me, and I nod. “Answer. It’ll be good news. I’m sure.”
He looks like he’s about to puke, but he nods too and then reaches up and swipes to answer the phone call. His eyes drop to the floor. “Hello?”
I try not to eavesdrop, and all I get are mostly one-word, stilted responses from him anyway.
“Yes... Okay... Yeah, that’s right... Okay.” He lifts his eyes, but I still can’t read his expression. “Yeah.” He looks right at me and nods, and the smallest hint of a smile flickers on his lips. “September 15... Yes... Yes.”
My heart bursts with joy as he nods again, then closes his eyes.
“Thank you, Vera. I’m—I’m looking forward to it . . . Yeah, we’re at the airport right now . . . Me too . . . Thank you again . . . Yeah. Goodbye.”
Nico ends the call and shoves his phone back into his pocket. He runs his hand through his hair and lets out a sharp breath, and as he glances up at me again, shaking his head, I see the disbelief in his eyes. His gaze darts toward the gate for half a second, where the last few people are boarding the plane. Then he looks back at me, still shaking his head, and he bites his lip as his head shake turns into a nod.
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Y-yeah. Yeah, she... she just offered me the job. It’s real. I-I can’t believe it.”
My duffle bag drops to the ground as I throw my arms around him and pull him in for a hug, burying my head in his hair. “I’m so proud of you,” I murmur against him. I’m trembling, and I can feel he is too.
He returns my hug, sliding his arms around my waist, and then he’s laughing—shaking and laughing and grinning up at me. He reaches up with his good hand and hooks his fingers around my neck, then tugs me down for a kiss, right there in the middle of the airport.
When he pulls back, he’s breathing hard. “I can’t believe it,” he repeats, shaking his head again. “She says she thinks I’m going to be perfect for the job, and she wishes I could start sooner.”
More pride swells up in my chest, and I pull him back in for another hug. “You did it. You freaking did it.”
He nods into me, holding me as tightly as I’m holding him. “I did.”
As much as I want to sit here in this moment with him for a little bit longer, the last call for boarding for the first leg of our flight comes over the loudspeaker, and Nico steps back, glancing toward the gate. The line’s gone now, and the airline’s staff is standing at the podium right near the doors to the jet bridge, watching us.
“Let’s go home?” he says, turning back to me. His face breaks out into a huge grin again. “And then we’ll be back here in two months.”
He’s beautiful, especially with that smile on his lips and all that hope in his eyes.
