I looked at Lila standing beside me, the breeze gently moving her hair. The day had been everything I’d hoped for back then, but it felt more meaningful doing it now. “Thank you for coming with me. This was supposed to be ours, and it was important for me to give it to you now.”
Lila turned to me with a soft smile that reached all the way to her eyes, and I felt more certain than ever that she was worth every change I was making.
“I have some promises I’d like to make to you.”
She tilted her head, and her hair spilled over her shoulder. “Okay, I think I’m ready to hear them.”
It wasn’t the date we had planned to get married quite yet, but what I was about to say to her held as much meaning for me as the vows I’d planned to make to her then. Only now did I understand them on a much deeper level.
“I promise I’ll listen before I defend. Our relationship won’t be the thing I sacrifice to keep everyone else happy. And you’ll never have to earn your place in my life. However much time and space you want, it’s yours.”
“Thank you, Reid.” She brushed a quick kiss against my lips. “You really are different from the man who broke my heart, which makes it basically impossible to stay angry with you.”
During the drive back to her house, I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but at least I knew whatever happened next, I was finally becoming the man she deserved.
19
LILA
The drive back to Los Angeles gave me entirely too much time to think.
For the first half hour, neither of us said much. Soft music drifted from the speakers as the moon grew more visible as it got darker outside. Reid rested one hand on the steering wheel and occasionally reached across the center console to squeeze my knee. Other than that, he left me alone with my thoughts, never once asking what was wrong or pushing me to talk before I was ready.
A few months ago, that silence would’ve felt awkward. Tonight, it felt comfortable.
As the miles slipped by, I found myself thinking about how he’d stopped treating every difficult conversation like something he needed to solve and instead as something he needed to understand.
There hadn’t been one grand gesture that fixed everything or one perfect apology that erased the hurt. Instead, dozens of small moments had slowly rebuilt the trust we’d lost.
Every time I expected him to fall back into old habits, he surprised me in a good way. Whenever I braced myself to feel dismissed, he listened.
The truth was, I hadn’t spent the past month deciding whether Reid had changed. I’d seen for myself that he had, and Kinsley confirmed it when she got home and spent some time with him.
I’d used this time to decide whether I believed the change was enough.
As I stared out the passenger window at the growing glow of city lights, I finally admitted that somewhere along the way, I had gotten my answer.
The man sitting beside me wasn’t perfect. Neither of us was. But he finally understood why I had left. And why I needed more than promises to come back, although they’d certainly gotten me thinking tonight.
My thumb drifted absently across my bare ring finger as I thought about what he’d said at the overlook. He’d given me simple promises rooted in understanding.
And for the first time since I’d handed back my engagement ring, I wasn’t questioning whether Reid deserved another chance.
I was wondering why I was still making him wait.
I loved him. I had never stopped. The difference now was that I trusted him again, and that had been the missing piece all along.
As if he felt me looking at him, Reid glanced over from the driver’s seat. “Everything okay?”
The concern in his voice made me smile. “Actually, yeah.”
His expression softened, but I could tell he was still trying to figure out what was happening inside my head. But since we were almost to my house, I figured he could wait a little longer.This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have while his attention was divided between the road and me.
When he finally pulled into my driveway, I took a deep breath and turned slightly toward him. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
The immediate answer made my chest squeeze.
