Hudson stays beside me, matching my pace, not saying a word. When we step in and the elevator doors close, sealing us off from the life I just left behind, I’m finally able to let out the breath I’ve been holding since we got here.
He turns to me, his brown eyes searching mine. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “You know what? For the first time… I think I am.”
The elevator descends, carrying me away from everything I’ve ever known, and toward the only future I’ve ever chosen for myself.
He places a hand on my waist, warm and impossibly steady, knowing he’s the only solid thing I’ll ever need in my life. I can feel my heart beating everywhere, my throat, my wrists, the tips of my fingers. I don’t know how he isn’t hearing it.
“Hudson,” I whisper, because his name is the only thing I can manage at this moment.
He looks down at me like he’s bracing for the worst. Like I’m the one who could break him. “Don’t say my name like that,” his voice is low and rough. “I’m barely holding it together as it is.”
My breath catches. “I don’t want you to hold it together.”
His jaw flexes while I watch his eyes flick to my mouth, then back to my eyes. He’s fighting himself. “You don’t know what you’re asking, Ivory.”
“I do.” My voice shakes, but I don’t look away. “I know exactly what I’m asking.”
Something in him cracks.
He exhales, long and uneven. “I shouldn’t feel this way about you.”
My chest tightens. “But you do.”
He closes his eyes for a second, like the truth hurts. “Yeah. I do.” His voice drops to a whisper meant only for me. “I love you. I’ve been trying not to, but I do.”
My world tilts as my knees start to go weak, but his hand tightens on my waist, keeping me upright.
I swallow hard. “I thought it was just me,” I breathe.
His eyes snap open. “Not even close.”
I can feel the words rising up in me, and they are soft and terrifying…unstoppable. “I love you too.”
Hudson goes completely still. Like he’s afraid to move and ruin the moment, sliding one hand up to cradle the back of my head, his forehead pressing to mine. Feeling his breath against my lips.
“Say it again,” he murmurs.
“I love you,” I whisper, and this time, it feels like I’m stepping off a ledge and learning I can fly.
He groans, pulling me closer, choosing me with his whole body.
And for the first time in my life, I don’t feel small.
I feel chosen.
EPILOGUE
HUDSON
A few months later…
The thing about peace is…it’s quiet.
Especially, if you’re someone who has spent years waiting for the next disaster to happen, the next mistake, the next ghost from your past to find its way back into your life.
But this?
