“Did you get my message?”
He pulls back and grins at me. “Yeah. I did.”
We both start laughing, but I’m also still crying, and hiccupping noises spill from my lips. He turns in a circle, then walks us to the open door of my house.
“Your boombox,” I remind him.
“I don’t want it.”
“I do. I want to hear you singing again.”
He groans and sets me down and I dart back to pick it up. I inspect it dubiously. “I hope it’s not broken. Where did you get this?”
“A thrift shop.”
I roll my lips in on a smile and carry it into my house. I shut the door behind us, set the boombox on the kitchen island, then dive into his arms again.
“Baby, Christ, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Oh, Marek. I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I’m here. For you. For us.”
“I have so many things I want to say to you.”
“Me too.” He pulls back and gazes down into my eyes. “But the first thing is… I love you.”
The organ in my chest stops for several painful missed beats and then explodes in a frantic pounding.
“I love you, too.” I lay my palms on his cheeks and rise onto my toes to kiss him. “I love you so much. I have for so long.”
“Fuck. So much time wasted.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. But in my defense, you were pretty clear that you weren’t into relationships. What’s your motto? ‘Fuck hard. Play harder. Do things that make you happy.’ That doesn’t sound like a guy ready to settle down.”
He tenses against me, leans his forehead on mine and breathes. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ve learned some things about myself recently.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. Some people can be really mean.”
I laugh softly. “Uh oh. Is one of those people Mabel?”
“Yeah.”
“If it helps at all, she was mean to me, too.”
His head jerks back. “What? What did she say to you?” he demands, brows lowered.
“She told me that if you don’t love yourself, you’ll push away people who try to love you.”
He stares at me.
“And she was right, I think.” I give him a sheepish smile. “I still love her though. Come on. Let’s sit down.”
He looks around my place as I lead him to the couch. “This is nice. Holy shit, that view.”
“I know. Isn’t it great?”
