“Dem,” he says on an exhale.
His lips are on mine without a second thought, and I melt into his body against mine.
This. This. This.
It’s where I belong.He’swhere I belong.
I knew it long before I wanted to admit it. My body tried to tell me, my nervous system kept finding solace in him. And I kept blowing past it. But no more. I’ve never felt more valued than I do when I’m standing next to Liam.
Liam’s hand grips my jaw, the kiss breathing life into me, and I feel my chest weaken. He pulls away slowly, his hand tracing down my neck as he does, holding it in place over my erratically beating heart.
“I know I love you.” I lean my forehead against his chest, his hand sliding around my shoulders to pull me into him. “I didn’t have anyone. And then…suddenly, there was you. And your friends. And this beautiful group of people around me. I-I think I forgot what it was like to have a person. Someone who wants to hear about my day because they genuinely care. Someone to run to, someone I can tell anything to.” I sigh, and I feel his fingers making circles on my back. “I’d gone so long without it that it took me a while to realize it wasyou. You became all those things. Even when I was sure I didn’t want to let anyone in, I always felt safe telling you anything.”
“Dem, I will always be a safe space for you. Always. You broke through walls I had up too, and I’m so goddamn glad you did. I will always be in your corner. However you need me to be.”
I nod against his chest. Because I believe him. And believing someone, trusting someone again isn’t something I thought I’d be capable of for a long time. I was stuck after my divorce. Trapped in a bottle of jaded misery, and Liam was the piece that helped to wedge me out of it.
I think I’ll always be grateful for him. He showed me a side of life that doesn’t require too much thought. In a lot of ways, he taught me how to simplybe. Be present. Say what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling.
There are a lot of things we need to figure out. A lot of moving parts involving our jobs that won’t be easy to manage. But I don’t want to be the bitter woman who holds one terrible relationship against every other man she meets. I don’t want to push away the people who care.
I love what I do. I’m good at it, but I know that even if I had to leave where I’m at tomorrow, my time in this field wouldn’t be over.
Entering the world as a divorced thirty-five-year-old came with a lot of mixed emotions. I went through hell. But I needed that rain. That storm in my personal life to realize how badly I needed the sun.
How badly I needed Liam.
The way Demi fits against my chest feels like the perfect catch. A well-placed spiral landing right into the arms of the receiver downfield. Except the boulder-sized lump in my throat doesn’t happen when I score a touchdown. I feel every bit of emotion coursing through me right now. The hope, the love, the excitement, and even the fear. Because hearing Demi tell me she loves me is everything I’ve wanted to hear for years—but I know it’s not something she’s saying lightly.
“I knew waiting for you wasn’t a waste of time,” I say into her ear with a low laugh, and she shakes against my chest laughing too.
“I’m sorry I took so long.” She pulls back, looking up at me.
“Forgiven.” I smile.
Demi’s fingers interlock with mine as she smiles back, but it slowly fades as she looks past me to the skyline.
I came up here to think. My world felt like it was spinning, and the need to get out into the open air was too strong to ignore. But I never would’ve expected Demi to come bursting through the door the way she did.
“You know, I’ve always admired you.” She cocks an eyebrow up at me and I nod. “For a million reasons, but over the last year I watched you become so damn resilient. You never faltered, at least not publicly.”
She lowers her head, shaking it with a soft laugh.
“You’re graceful in your resilience, Dem. A quiet strength you’ve shown that’s inspiring as hell. You make me want to understand my emotions better, handle them better,bebetter.”
Her thumb draws circles on the back of my hand slowly.
“There you go again,” she says as she inhales. “Sweeping me off my already floating feet.”
I feel her tense slightly against me before she clears her throat.
“I…I need to be clear, though. I meant it when I said I don’t want to have kids,” she says nervously.
And I never see her nervous. Overthinking, sure. Second guessing, yeah. But nervous? Like what she’s saying could actually scare me away is a new one.
“I believe you.”
“I-I’ve just been down this road before. And I’m not saying we’re about to get married oranythinglike that. I’m just trying to be clear. So clear that there’s no room for miscommunication.”
