“No, love,” he says softly. “It’s taken me far too long, but I am finally going the right way.”
My brain stutters to a stop.Love. Have I heard that right? I glance at Priya and Lila for confirmation, but they are carefully looking in the other direction, giving us what privacy they can.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry.” Angus brushes his hand against my cheek, his thumb stroking the soft skin there. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away. You were never nothing. You’re everything. And that fucking terrified me. I didn’t want to end up like my Da. I couldn’t bear the idea that the person I loved would leave. Instead, I lost you before I even had you. And that was so much worse. I want you, Rowan. I want every part of you.”
There it is again. That word.
“You loved me?” I ask.
Angus shakes his head, and a piece of me breaks.
“No, Rowan,” he says seriously. “I love you. Present tense.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. Not at him, but the situation. The time we’ve both wasted. “We’ve made a right mess of this, haven’t we?”
“Aye, London, we have.” There’s his thumb again, his fingers tangling in my hair. “I’d like to stop making such a mess, if that’s alright with you?”
“I had this whole speech prepared! About how I’ve been working on myself. How I’ve been learning to do hard things, to take risks. About how no matter what I’ve done this last year, and no matter where I’ve gone, even though we only knew each other for a few days, somehow being without you has felt like missing a piece of myself. And how, even though loving you might be the biggest risk I’ve ever taken, I want to try. I want to—”
He kisses me.
He kisses me like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
He kisses me like he’s spent his whole life missing me.
He kisses me like he’s mine.
“Angus—”
“Shut up, London. Shut up and let me fucking kiss you.”
And he does. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever felt in my life. I can’t get enough of it, of him. He kisses me until we are both out of breath, until my lips are raw, and the world has disappeared, and then he kisses me some more. Eventually, we come up for air. Eventually, he draws back, pressing his forehead against mine, so I can taste him with every breath.
“Can you forgive me?” Angus asks.
“Of course I forgive you, you idiot. I love you.” I dash a tear from my eye. “You’re the top, Angus. Do you understand? For me, you’re the top. And I’m willing to do what it takes to get there.”
He kisses me again.
This time, we’re interrupted by a collective whooping and cheering. We break apart to find a crowd of women watching us. The others have caught up, and it’s no longer just Lila and Priya and Marnie, but Joan and Bolly and all the rest, who have paused on the trail behind us to clap and whoop.
“London,” Angus growls. “What the fuck is this?”
“I started a hiking group.” I gesture at the women around us. “Single Woman Walking! Ladies, this is Angus. Angus, this is, well, the ladies.”
“He can light my stove anytime,” Bolly says, with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
“Join the queue,” says Heather. “I’d happily butter that muffin tin.”
“I wonder if he could spare a pole for my tent.” Suzy elbows Heather with a grin.
“He looks like he’s gotplentyof poles to go around.”
Angus groans. “I’m never going to have another day’s peace, am I?”
“You could.” I grin, looking around at the group. My heart full. “But then you wouldn’t have me.”
