She swallows and places her hand on my thigh. “So many times, I’ve sat in a similar spot as now. Either to watch you or watch our son. I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like if things were different, our timeline, goals.”
I gently tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “And?”
She turns her head, with her eyes set on me, and the corner of her mouth twitches. “I would miss it. I’ve been doing a lot of reflection—and wine drinking, but mostly reflection. During all these years, I’ve been wishing for a few things, but there was one thing I wanted the most.”
“Which is?” I feel like my heart just sank to my belly.
Have I gotten it all wrong? The last month or so, have I been losing her? Is it possible that someone can slip through your fingers twice?
But then a reassuring smirk appears on her lips. “It’s you. You, me, and Connor.”
Relief hits me, and I take her hand between my palms because I feel she has more to say.
“I get to have that now, and it’s enough.”
I tip my head to the side. “I love that you say that, but I won’t ever let you settle for less. I don’t want you to feel like you’re settling.”
Her hand comes to my jawline, and she plays with the stubble on my chin with her thumb. “You don’t seem to get it. I’ll try again with the Bar and see what I do career-wise. It’s just that you and Connor are by far more important, and I want to grab everything that I’ve been waiting for. I want to get married, I don’t want to wait. We’ll have an odd living situation for a bit, but at the end of the school year, Connor and I will move here.”
I would protest if I thought she wasn’t thinking from a clear place, but her voice and look say it all. She has thought it over, and she’s serious.
Letting go of her hand, my fingers move to the back of her neck to pull her into a kiss. Our foreheads touch, and I make a point to keep us close. “If it’s what you want then I’ll make it happen.”
“It is what I want, and I don’t care what our parents think. We’re putting ourselves first,” she tells me softly before kissing my lips.
“Promise me that you don’t resent me, promise me that this is truly what you want. Because I promise that I’m never letting you go.”
She smirks. “You never did let me go, you were waiting, remember?”
I laugh because she remembers what I said once. “I’d wait longer if you needed me to.”
Brielle shakes her head. “I’ve wanted this all along, it’s just lately, I’ve been a bit down and lost sight of everything that is possible right now. It turns out, despite a minor blip in the summer, I’m one hell of a lucky girl.”
“I think so too,” I tease as I wrap an arm around her waist and slide her closer to me.
“Things out of our control made me question a few things lately, but I think we passed the challenge, because I’m still certain that you and I are meant to be.”
Kissing her forehead, I smile because her words feel warm and right. “You sound very confident with your newfound happiness.”
She pinches me in the side. “It’s not new. I’ve been pretty damn happy since you tricked me into the middle of the lake. Only the universe wasn’t letting me celebrate it, instead distracting me. I’ve lost a useless organ, among other not-so-stellar things.”
“But you’re at peace with everything? I mean, you’ve accepted that some things can’t be changed?” This is me testing the waters.
“Yeah,” she sighs.
Slowly, and reluctantly, I pull out the envelope from my back pocket. I look at it for a second. “Your results came in.”
Disappointment floods her face. “It is what it is, I knew it would be any day now.”
“Want me to open it for you?”
She holds my arms tighter as she leans her head against my shoulder. “Might as well get the confirmation.” She sighs and looks out onto the ice.
I rip the seal and pull out the official letter and skim the lines. “It was a 266 that you needed to pass, right?”
“Yeah. I was aiming for 310, though.”
“You know, I love the number 69 for many reasons,” I comment.
