He kisses me again, quick and possessive, and I feel the promise in it.
Noah pulls back, studying my face, and his grin fades into something quieter. More tender.
"You're smiling," he says.
"I smile all the time," I protest.
"Yeah, you do." He tucks a strand of pale-blue hair behind my ear, his touch gentle.
For years, I convinced myself that happiness was something other people got to have. That I'd used up my quota when I was seventeen and stupid and thought Mitchell Lark was my only choice.
But standing here in my kitchen with Noah looking at me like I'm his entire world, I'm starting to believe I was wrong.
Maybe happiness isn't something you earn or deserve.
Maybe it's something you choose.
Every day. Over and over again.
Epilogue
Noah
I'mgoingtobesick.
Standing in the wings of the Saltford Bay Community Theater, I check my jacket pocket for what has to be the twentieth time in as many minutes. The small velvet box is exactly where I leftit, nestled against my ribs. My palms are sweating despite the cool backstage air, and I'm pretty sure everyone within a ten-foot radius can hear my heart trying to hammer its way out of my chest.
This is insane. I'm insane.
I'm about to propose to Rika Everdeen in front of half the town during her daughter's dance recital.
"You look like you're about to pass out," Zoe says, appearing at my elbow in her costume. The silver beading catches the dim backstage work lights, throwing tiny sparks across the walls. At fifteen, she's transformed into this poised young woman I'm not entirely ready to accept exists. "You need to breathe, Noah. In and out. It's pretty simple."
"Easy for you to say," I mutter, tugging at my collar. The charcoal suit suddenly feels two sizes too small. "You're not about to ask someone to marry you in front of three hundred people."
"It's community theater, Noah. There are like seventy people there, tops." Zoe grins, that mischievous spark lighting her blue eyes. "And I'm about to perform my first opening-feature solo. So which one of us should be more nervous?"
"Honestly? Me. Definitely me."
She laughs, the sound bright and genuine, and I'm struck, not for the first time, by how far she's come this year. The angry, hurting girl I met almost two years ago has bloomed into someone confident and openhearted.
"Hey." Zoe's voice softens, and she nudges my shoulder gently with hers. "She's going to say yes, you know."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
I pull her into a quick hug, careful not to wrinkle her costume or disrupt her hair.
"You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me."
Zoe's arms tighten around me for just a second before she pulls back, her eyes suspiciously shiny.
"Don't make me cry before I go on. Ms. Langford will kill me if I ruin my makeup."
"Right. Sorry." I clear my throat, blinking hard against my own sudden wave of emotion. "Go be brilliant."
The stage manager's voice cuts through the backstage chaos. "Five minutes to curtain!"
