"Wyatt." Her tone is so carefully neutral it might as well be a wall between us.
"I came to apologize," I answer, the flowers feeling heavier by the second. "And to tell you the truth. The real truth, not the bullshit I said in that first interview."
"I saw your video," she says, the words coming out in a rush like she couldn't hold them back.
"You did?" Hope flickers in my chest before I can stop it.
"Heather sent it to me about thirty seconds after you posted it." She crosses her arms over her chest, vulnerability flashing in her eyes. "It was very dramatic."
"I meant every word of it," I say, needing her to understand that much at least.
"Did you?" The question hangs between us, and I can hear the doubt underneath, the hurt she's trying so hard to hide.
I set the flowers and chocolate down on the bar and move around to her side. The crowd's murmuring grows louder as I cross into her space, but I don't care about any of them right now.
"Yes." The word comes out rough, scraped raw. "I love you, Merri. I'm in love with you. I think I have for years. I was just too stupid to admit it to myself, let alone to you." I reach up and cup her face in my hands, my thumbs catching the tears sliding down her cheeks. "You're everything to me. You have been for longer than I realized, and I'm so sorry I ever made you feel like you were anything less."
"Wyatt—"
I kiss her before she can finish, before I lose my nerve or she can tell me it's too late. I pour everything into it, all the years ofwanting her, all the regret for hurting her, all the desperate hope that maybe she can forgive me for being an idiot.
For one terrible second, she doesn't respond, and my heart stops. Then she melts into me, her hands fisting in my shirt as she kisses me back with the same fierce intensity. My knees go weak when I realize we're going to be okay.
Applause and cheers shake the rafters, someone lets out an ear-splitting whistle, and over the noise I catch fragments of "Finally!" and "Took you long enough!" and "I had money on this!"
I can hear phones clicking, people taking pictures and videos, but I don't care. All I care about is the woman in my arms.
When we finally break apart, both breathing hard, I bury my face in her hair. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I'm so, so sorry."
"You're a total jackass," she whispers back.
"I know."
"But I love you anyway."
Relief crashes through me. "Thank God," I breathe. She pulls away to meet my gaze, and despite the tears still clinging to her lashes, she's smiling.
"That video was way over the top, you know."
"I had to match your interview," I reply, unable to stop grinning. "You set the bar pretty high with that confession."
"I set the bar?" She laughs, the sound watery but genuine. "You're the one who just declared your love for me in front of half the town while holding a bouquet the size of a small child."
"You're worth it," I tell her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "You're worth all of it."
Another wave of cheers rises from the crowd, and when I glance around, I count at least twenty phones pointed in our direction, all recording.
"We're definitely going viral again," I say, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all.
"I don't care." She slides her hands up my neck and yanks me down for another kiss, and the taproom erupts again.
Tommy appears next to us, grinning. "Congratulations on finally getting your shit together."
"Thanks, Tommy," Merri deadpans, not taking her eyes off me.
"Now get out of my bar and go be disgustingly in love somewhere private. I've got customers to serve, and they're all too distracted by your romance."
Merri laughs. "Give me five minutes to grab my stuff."
