She sucked in a breath. She deserved more. It was hard to believe it.
But perhaps it was time to start.
And she would always wonder if she didn’t.
Be daring.
Be brave.
Live.
She’d moved to a new town, away from a fiancé she didn’t know, leaving everything behind.
Already she was being far braver than she thought she could have ever been. So maybe she could be even braver and get everything she never thought she’d have but really wanted.
“All right,” she said. “I guess sometimes you have to take a risk to reap the rewards and honestly if I didn’t say yes, I’d regret it. So maybe I’ll end up hurt. But also maybe I’ll end up with everything. Because being with the two of you is a dream that I never thought I’d get.”
“Well, you haven’t seen Eli when he doesn’t get enough sleep yet,” Kellan told her. “So I’d hold off about the dream stuff.”
“Oh, and what about when you watch murder mystery movies? You got so frustrated at the inaccuracies that you broke our last television.”
“You didn’t.” She let out a small giggle. It was hard to imagine composed Kellan breaking something in frustration.
“I didn’t break the television,” he said. “I simply threw the remote and it happened to hit the television. Two different things.”
Another giggle followed by a snort. She clapped her hand over her mouth in mortification. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” Eli asked.
“Um, for snorting like a pig. How embarrassing.”
“I thought it was adorable,” Eli told her.
“Definitely adorable,” Kellan added.
“You’re beautiful,” Eli told her.
She’d heard that before but she didn’t know that she truly believed it.
“But you’re stunning when you smile,” Kellan added.
It was like they were doing a twin thing even though they weren’t twins. Maybe it was just that they spent so much time together.
“Even while snorting?” she asked in disbelief.
“Especially then,” Kellan told her.
Sheesh.
“What . . . where do we go next? We can’t stay in this hotel room forever and you guys don’t live here. Are you . . . are you wanting me to move to Houston?”
The thought made her want to cry. But that’s what you did for the people you cared about, right? You sacrificed. They were willing to take a chance on her and all of her baggage. She could do this for them.
“I mean, it makes sense,” she said. “I can do my work from anywhere. And I’ve been here less than two weeks. You’ve lived in Houston for longer. Your lives are there while I—eek!”
She cried out as Kellan reached out and lifted her down onto his lap, holding her against his chest.
“No one is making you move to Houston. You want to live here, we live here.”
