‘Close the door.’
Taylor
‘Look Tay, forget what I said. I was caught up in the story. Saying what felt right when?—’
‘You weresocaught up in a kid’s story you accidentally told me you loved me?’
He looks wrecked.
Big, unshakeable Ax, looking like the Grinch when he realises Christmas isn’t all he thought it was.
And my heart… God, it just melts, emotion spilling from every pore as I reach up and cup his cheek.
‘So youdon’tlove me?’ I ask, even though I already know the answer. I heard it in every whispered syllable, saw it in every etched line of his face, and I see it now in his panic.
‘I…’ His body tightens, dark eyes glittering into mine, then he shakes his head, his sigh weary and done for. ‘I do. I’m in love with you, Tay. And if you end this right now, it won’t change a damn thing. I’ll still love you.’
A soft, broken sound escapes: half-laugh, half-sob.
‘Is it really so awful?’ he rasps, wiping away a tear I didn’t know I’d shed. ‘We’re still friends. We’ll always be friends.’
I shake my head, smiling through more tears. ‘I don’t want to be your friend.’
His breath stutters. ‘Tay…’
‘I want to be your everything, Ax. Your partner. Your future. The mother of your child –ourchild.’
His entire body goes still. ‘Are you saying…?’
‘That I’m in love with you too –Yes.’
It bursts out of me, and he pulls me in, hands trembling as they frame my face, cradling me like I’m something precious.
‘You do?’
‘Yes! I loved you before. Of course I did. But crossing that line showed me what more there was to love… what more there was to feel. And now I can’t unsee it. I can’t go back to how it was. I don’t want to.’
He swallows hard.
‘You just— God, Tay. You’ve just handed me everything I ever wanted… and everything I thought I’d never have.’
Then he kisses me.
Not with the hunger I’m used to. Not with urgency or need.
This is slow. Tender. Almost sweet.
His hands glide over me – my waist, my back, my hips – steady and sure as he walks me back to the bed.
‘Tell me again,’ he whispers.
‘I love you.’
‘Again?’
He sweeps me up and lowers me onto the mattress.
‘I love you.’
