Instead of hanging out in the living room and watching a little TV, I head down the hall, just wanting to crash. Maybe if I sleep hard enough, long enough, I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and the pain burning a hole through me will have dulled, even just a little bit.
Each step I take seems to thud against the floor. The penthouse is so quiet I can hear my own heartbeat thundering in my ears. The silence has never pressed in on me like this. It’s never felt so thick or stifling. I’m not even sure I can live here without her anymore. She might not have been here that long, but it was more than enough to leave a mark.
As soon as I step over the threshold, I grind to a stop.
For a second, my brain refuses to process the image in front of me. The room is dim, the corners swallowed up by shadows, until the shape on the bed comes into focus and the truth snaps into place.
Rina’s stretched out across the middle of the king-sized bed, dark hair fanned over the pillows, wearing nothing but my jersey. My number stands out in bold strokes along the sleeves. Her bare legs are tangled in the sheets, skin glowing against the white cotton, and for one stunned second, my breathing stutters.
She looks like something out of a dream.
My dream.
“Rina?” I don’t realize how hard it is to get the question out until I try. “You came back?”
She nods. “The entire time I was gone, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Wanting you. No matter how much I fought it, I couldn’t stop from falling in love with you. I’ve spent so much of my life letting fear guide my choices. And I almost let it happen again with you.”
I stand frozen, trying to absorb the words I’ve waited my whole life to hear. Then I’m on the move, eating up the distance between us until I can cup her face in my hands. My thumb sweeps across the curve of her jaw.
“You love me?”
Her gaze stays locked on mine. “I do. If I’m being honest, I have for a while. But I was too scared to admit it to myself, and you.”
I lean closer, brushing my forehead against hers.
For a moment, only the sound of our breathing fills the air. It reminds me of that faint, fast tempo we heard in the doctor’s office. The one that changed everything. Proof that what we made is still there, alive and waiting for us to find our way back to it.
“I know,” I whisper. “And it’s okay. I love you too. I was just patiently waiting for you to realize you felt the same.”
A small smile tugs at her lips. “Patiently, huh?”
I grin. “Well, you certainly took your sweet damn time doing it.”
Her shoulders shake as she leans into me, laughter dissolving into a quiet, unsteady sigh. For the first time in days, the tension that’s plagued me finally loosens.
Because she’s here.
In my arms.
Exactly where she was always meant to be.
Tomorrow, there’ll be noise with the team and the press. But for tonight, none of it matters. It’s just us, and the promise of something new.
49
Rina
When he leans in and his mouth finds mine, the kiss unfurls gradually, like sunlight spreading across still water.
Oliver’s hands frame my face, as if he can’t quite believe I’m real. His thumbs trace deliberate circles along my jaw, grounding me in the moment. His lips move against mine with a patience that undoes me more than any rush ever could. I taste mint, the faint salt of skin, and something that’s purely him. It’s warm, clean, and familiar. It anchors me, even as the rest of the world fades into the background.
When he draws away, his forehead stays pressed to mine, our breaths tangling in the fragile space between us.
“The way you look in my jersey, baby…” he murmurs, “there’s no way I’ll ever forget it.” His gaze darkens as it drifts lower. “Although, as good as you look… I can’t wait to strip it off you.”
“Funny,” I whisper, “I was thinking the same thing.”
His mouth curves into a smile that’s lazy, confident, and full of promise. He catches the hem of the jersey and lifts it, his knuckles brushing a deliberate path along my skin.
