My eyebrows went up because I hadn’t expected that. She licked her lips and rubbed her hands together nervously. “I need to say something, and I need you to just listen.”
She chewed on her cheek for a moment before speaking. “I think that maybe I fell in love with you. Somewhere along the way, things stopped feeling fake. And I know you probably don’t feel the same, but I needed to at least get the words out. You’vedone nothing but be there for me, hold me when I’m sad, and even tonight, you once more put me ahead of your own needs. You’ve cared for my sister and me in more ways than I can thank you for.”
I watched as tears filled her eyes. “And I know I shouldn’t say anything because I know you don’t feel the same, and it’s only going to make this already complicated situation more messy. So, I will try to ignore them, try to push it down as far as I can because I don’t want to lose this.”
I frowned. “That’s not going to work.”
She started to softly cry, wiping at her tears as she nodded her head. “Do you want us to move out? I said too much, right?”
I bent down, cupping her face as I looked into her eyes. I wondered how the hell we got here? Why did we feel we needed to make things so messy instead of just letting things slide into place as they had?
Why had I been so worried about this? Thinking that being close to her would ruin everything, that I would ruin her. Why didn’t I see everything before?
“That’s not going to work because I don’t want this to be fake anymore.”
Her tears stopped.
“It’s your turn to just listen.” I moved some of her hair behind her ear. “I thought I was doing you a favor by pulling away. But I wasn’t. And I wasn’t helping myself because Gabriella, you are the best thing that has happened to me. You make my days easy, and when you smile, I know I’ve won. I don’t want you moving into the spare bedroom because that would mean waking up to you in the morning. I want to spend everyminute I can with you, and if that means only sleeping together some nights, then I will take it.”
Her eyes widened. “Wh… what?”
I leaned closer, pressing my nose against hers. “I love you. So no, your plan won’t work. Your plan doesn’t sound like the future I want. I want you. I want a marriage. I want kids and warm nights together under these sheets. I want that.”
She started to cry again as I kissed her, pulling her tightly into my arms. “I love you too,” she cried, her arms tightly wrapped around me. “And I’m not saying it because you did.”
I held her, knowing there was still a lot we needed to talk about and figure out, but at least we were being honest. No more shoving the emotions down. No more hiding the truth. It was all out there.
Epilogue - Gabriella
I woke up to the smell of coffee. I rolled over, slamming into Westley. I could hear him chuckle softly into my ear. “Miss me that much?”
I peeled my eyes open and found him smiling as he stared at me. His arms wrapped around my middle, tugging me closer to him. I felt his warmth, and the sheets surrounded me.
“I smell coffee,” I whispered, knowing it had to be Hazel in the kitchen.
“And I smell you,” he purred as he tugged me closer. My eyes widened as I felt something pressing against me.
“Are you… Westley, do you have a hard-on?”
“Maybe.” He kissed my cheek as he snuggled his face into my neck. “Is that a problem?”
I was tempted because sex with him was always amazing. But we didn’t have time. He had a meeting with the guys, and Hazel was up. I didn’t see her a lot since her kidnapping. She’s become distant, and any change I had with her I took.
“Yes, that is. You have a meeting, and Hazel is in the kitchen.”
He frowned. “Are you telling me you don’t want sex? That’s a first.”
I lightly punched him in the chest. “Shut up.”
He kissed my cheek. “I was kidding.”
He pulled himself up and stretched before he headed for the bathroom.
“Do you want a coffee?” I asked as I peeled myself out of bed—our bed.
Since everything that happened, the bedroom had transformed into a new room. We redecorated it to fit both of us. The room was a deep green with dark brown woods. And the bed had become our favorite spot. At the end of the night, we would lie in bed together and chat about our day. No secrets.
We told Hazel about everything, feeling the need to at least let her know that we were together for real now. But we tried to keep things clean around the house while she was home. The last thing I wanted was her to find us banging in the kitchen.
