I nodded my head. “For three weeks, I kept coming back to your territory to look for you or any signs of you. And then after that night we shared, evenif I thought you left me, I kept looking for you. For a month, I kept coming back to the Moon Stone Pack. I was hoping you would show up, but you didn’t.” I paused for a while before talking again. “So your question, if she didn’t choose Caspian, would she be the one here and not you? I really don’t know the answer to that. But if you’re going to ask me who I wanted to be here with, that one I can answer you with without any hesitation. I want you here, Nadia. I want you with me.”
I swallowed hard. My throat really felt too dry.
“I know, I’m not the easiest person to be with. You said it yourself, I have many sides. Maybe you have only seen one side. Maybe tomorrow you will see another side and you won’t like it. I don’t like me either.” I forced a chuckle before I dropped my head low. “But I just want a chance, Nadia. Just one chance. I feel like everybody is given a chance except me. Maybe I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve a chance because I’m a bad person, but Nadia, you… I want you so much. You’re the only thing that was given to me that I really like. I don’t want to lose you.” And I couldn’t stop my tears anymore. “There are things about me that I’m not ready to share yet. But one day, I will tell you everything about me. Just be patient with me.”
“Riley…”
“I never wanted to be a better man than I am right now, for you. So I can be enough for you. I know I’m nothing special. But here I am, still hoping you will take a risk and give me a chance.”
My tears were already clouding my vision so that I couldn’t see clearly, but I knew Nadia had moved and was in front of me, on her knees. She cupped my face and tilted it up before her thumbs wiped the tears from my eyes. Only then did I see her tear-stricken face.
“Riley… I’m nothing special either. And if you…” She was hiccuping, cutting her words. “...you take a chance with me… I want… to take… a chance on you too. And we’ll figure out everything… else together.”
I nodded my head too eagerly as I cupped her face and wiped her tears with my fingers. “I want you, Nadia. All of you.”
She was still crying. Tears kept pouring down her lovely face, but she was trying to smile. “I have nothing to offer you, Riley. Just myself.”
“You’re more than enough, baby… I don’t need anything more.” I told her the truth.
I couldn’t explain the emotions swirling around me. They were mine and Nadia’s. It was overwhelming but in a positive way. I pressed my lips to her forehead before pulling her into my lap. Her arms automatically wrapped around my neck before our lips met to share a deep, passionate kiss.
I felt a big burden being lifted from my chest. I knew I still owed Nadia a lot of things, and she might change her mind once she realized who I was before she came, but I would think about it next time.
One day at a time. For now, I just wanted to lose myself in this moment, knowing she was willing to give me a chance to love her.
Chapter 21
NADIA.
Ididn’t know how longI stayed wrapped up in Riley’s arms as we hugged each other under the tree. I couldn’t stop sobbing. My heart was so full of love for him, and I wanted to tell him that, but I didn’t have the courage. Not yet.
But one day, I will. One step at a time.
For now, it was enough that he said he wanted me here with him. Because there’s nothing in the world I want more right now than to be with him.
I felt his hand brush against my hair as he pressed our bodies closer, his warmth mixing with mine and his musky scent swirling around me. I could get used to this.
“Hey, stop crying… I hate it when I make you cry.” His voice was so soothing and calming. Too far from the Riley I was talking to in the car earlier.
“It’s not a bad cry. I’m just happy.”
“Yeah?” He asked as he let go of his arms around me.
I slowly pulled away from him, wiping my tears with the back of my hand as I nodded my head.
“Am I making you happy? I’m only good at giving shit to people…” He smiled sheepishly like he wanted to hide his face, and it didn’t slip my eyes the way his cheeks started to be tinted with red.
Was my Alpha blushing?
I giggled as I moved my hands to his cheeks, pressing my fingers together against his skin to pinch him. “I didn’t know a moody Alpha like you knew how to blush.”
“Blush?” He asked, his forehead creased.
“Yes, itmakes your cheeks turn red.”
“I know what blush is, but I definitely don’t blush.”
“You just did.”
