“I mean it, Asher.” She grabs my face with both hands. “You are now immortal.”
That’s a lot of pressure. Won’t be able to go diving into hurricanes all willy-nilly anymore—isn’t great for longevity. Hesitant to make unkeepable promises, I settle on, “I’ll try my best.”
That makes her happy enough. Her grip on my cheeks loosens. “I love you.” She shakes herself. “I mean... I’ve always loved you, but now I’m alsoinlove with you.”
There it is.
The real declaration.
Finally.
Feels better than I thought it would. Like a drug. Think my heart just did a line of coke. Can’t stop the smile, but I mold it into the crooked one she seems to like best. “You luuuuuurve me?”
With a roll of her eyes, she tries to push me away. “Don’t be extra, Asher.”
I grab her before she puts any distance between us and steal another kiss. “I love you, too.”
She melts at once, her arms slipping around me again while she lays her ear against my heart. “I can’t believe you braved a hurricane for me.”
I glance at the destruction outside the windows. Thirty seconds in her embrace, and I totally forgot about that...
“I thought I was going to drown,” she says. “That I’d die today.”
I sort of did, too. Don’t mention that, though. Isn’t good for morale.
Her voice drops to a whisper. “I’ve been so busy fearing other people’s deaths, I didn’t even think about my own until it was staring me in the face.”
As she sniffles, I hold her close. “You’re safe.”
When she looks up, tears glisten on her cheeks. “I’m always safe with you. I feel like a moron. I fought and pretended and lied, but it all seems so stupid in the face ofthis.”
That’s because it was, but if therapy has taught me anything, it’s that fears can’t be conquered until you’re ready. Glad she came to her senses, though. The whole bit was rather torturous on my end. All those words tangle in my head, in my throat, and I can only brush my fingers over her wet cheek. Her gaze is open. Loving.
She kisses my chin. “Can you forgive me for taking so long to realize that?”
“Nope. You’ll have to find some way to make it up to me.”
Playful light sparkles in her eyes. “Yeah? How?”
A grin breaks through, yanked from deep within. Is this happening? Tome? Such a small thing, in the grand scheme. People declare their love across the world every day. It’s a normal part of life—from the outside.
I understand now why authors and poets spend their lives trying to capture this feeling on paper. Why songwriters make millions celebrating love or lamenting the loss of it. Why filmmakers immortalize love stories with perfectly delivered lines.
This feeling... It’s everything.
She is everything.
I slide my hands under her thighs and lift her into my arms. “Let’s take a shower.”
Her smile dawns, and she obediently slides her arms around my shoulders, holding fast. “I still can’t believe you did that. You could have killed yourself trying to save me.”
In my bathroom, I set her on the floor and turn on the water. “You weren’t picking up your phone. I was terrified.”
“I tried to call you. I didn’t have any signal.”
I pull my phone from my pocket. I now have enough service that notifications are coming through—messages from my brothers and parents, from Geoff, from the National Weather Service. And seven texts from Joss.
“Did you bring your phone with you?” I ask.
