“Late night visits.”
“You climbing through my window.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I feel like that’s a health and safety risk.”
“Rory Bennett afraid of a window climb? Not what you said on Friday night!”
“Never said afraid.”
“Coward.”
He laughs quietly. Then his expression softens slightly as he looks at me.
“You know,” I say after a moment.
“What?”
“I kind of wish we’d done this years ago.”
The words slip out before I can stop them. Rory nods slowly. “Yeah.”
“We could have had so much time.”
“We could have.”
For a second a small ache settles in my chest. But then Rory tilts my chin gently so I’m looking at him again.
“Freya.”
“Yeah?”
“I wouldn’t change it.”
I blink. “You wouldn’t?”
He shakes his head. “Because if we’d done this earlier…” He pauses. “You might not have Theo.”
My heart softens immediately.
“And I wouldn’t have Isla.”
I smile slightly.
“And they’re pretty great.”
“They’re the best.”
He brushes his thumb lightly along my cheek. “So no,” he says softly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
My chest feels warm and full all at once.
“Besides,” he adds with a small smile, “we’re here now.”
“Yeah.”
“We figured it out eventually.”
I lean forward and kiss him again. And when I pull back, I can’t stop the smile spreading across my face.
