I take her hand in mine.
“Ashamed of what?”
“I was ashamed that my own stubbornness resulted in the accident. I didn’t go to the police with the threats and notes. I didn’t tell anyone. I thought I could handle it on my own. I didn’tthink it mattered. But it did, and that choice hijacked my life and cost my sister hers.”
She cries for a moment but refuses to let me pull her close.
“I felt guilty, for surviving when she didn’t. It was all because of me in the first place. And I didn’t want to see the scar. I didn’t want the reminder staring back at me in the mirror. This scar not only serves as a reminder, but it separates me from London.”
Her shoulders shake.
“I wanted to be able to still see her reflection in the mirror because it’s all I have left of her. So, I grabbed the scissors and cut my bangs to try and cover it.”
“And now?” I ask.
“I’ll always feel guilty, Dash. Even though I know logically I can’t control someone else’s actions and it’s not really my fault. But part of me will always carry the guilt anyway.”
“I wish I could take those feelings away from you, or carry them for you somehow, but I know I can’t. What I do know is London would never want you to live your life that way. She would want you to wear your scars proudly because it’s a sign showing you did survive. And the only way she can too, is through the story of how you did, Valkyrie,” I tell her.
I kiss the scar in question and then look her in the eye.
“That scar will always remind me of what I didn’t lose. It’ll show me that against all the unbelievable odds, you battled to find your way back to me,” I tell her.
I start to touch the fresh scars on her shoulder but hesitate. “May I?”
She nods and I touch the skin of her shoulder, feeling the raised lines where the surgeons had to repair her shoulder not once, but twice. I lean in and press a gentle kiss there as she runs her fingers through my hair, her nails grazing my scalp.
“I don’t want you to hide your scars or anything else, Lennon,” I tell her.
“What do you mean?” she asks with a furrowed brow.
“I mean, I don’t want to hide ‘us’ anymore. I know we’re on separate teams and I know they won’t like the idea of us together, but I don’t care. We shouldn’t have ever tried to hide a love as big as ours in the first place,” I tell her while hoping she’ll agree.
She moves from straddling my thighs to straddling my growing length.
“Are you trying to seduce me while I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you, Valkyrie?”
“You said you were tired of hiding, well, I’m showing you want I want,” she says as she slides down on my length.
She holds still and cups my face with her hands.
“In case you need more clarification, I want you, and I’m done keeping it from everyone else…especially you,” she says as she kisses my lips and starts to move.
My hand startsto sweat in Lennon’s as we walk up the sidewalk to her parents’ house for dinner.
“It’s going to be okay, Dash,” she says with a smile.
Before another word can be spoken, the front door opens, and Sienna greets us. Much to my surprise, she hugs not only Lennon, but me as well.
Before she lets me go, she whispers, “Thank you for not giving up on my baby girl. And thank you for loving her the way she deserves to be loved.”
When she pulls back, she swipes under her eyes attempting to hide her tears.
When I glance down the hall, I see Lincoln Tyler staring me down. I have no clue what he’s about to say to me, but I steel my spine to take it.
He remains quiet through dinner, listening to Lennon and Sienna talk. He smiles at them occasionally and then glances at me like he’s sizing me up.
After dessert, Lennon helps her mother clear the table and Lincoln takes his shot. He stands from his chair at the head of the table and moves to stand by me.
