"Complete idiots." I kiss the top of her head. "But we're not anymore. We're here, we're together, and I'm not wasting any more time."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm not going back to the city without you. It means I'm going to find a way to make this work, us work. Even if it means uprooting my entire life."
She goes very still. "Owen, you can't do that. Your practice, your patients—"
"Can be referred to other doctors. Ivy, I've spent fifteen years building a life I thought I was supposed to want. Good job, nice apartment, respected career. And I've been fucking miserable." I shift so I can look at her properly. "The only time I'm happy, truly happy, is when I'm here. In Blackwater Falls. With you."
"But—"
"No buts. I know it's fast. I know we just confessed our feelings a few hours ago. But Ivy, I've loved you for fifteen years. That's not going to change. And now that I know you feel the same way? Now that I know what it's like to be with you?" I shake my head. "I'm not letting you go. I'm not spending another fifteen years wondering what if."
Tears are streaming down her face now. "You'd really do that? Move back here for me?"
"I'd do anything for you. Move back, find a new job, learn to knit, whatever it takes." I wipe her tears away with my thumbs. "I love you, Ivy Rose. I'm in love with you. And I want to build a life with you. Here, in the town you love, surrounded by books and terrible coffee and whatever else makes you happy."
"Owen—" Her voice breaks.
"Too much?" I ask, suddenly worried I've pushed too hard.
"No. Not enough." She pulls me down for a kiss that tastes like salt and hope. "I love you too. So much it scares me. And the idea of you being here, of getting to see you every day instead of just in my dreams…" She laughs through her tears. "It's everything I've ever wanted, and I can't believe it's real."
"It's real." I kiss her again, deeper this time. "This is real. We're real. And we're going to make this work."
"How?"
"I don't know yet. But we'll figure it out." I grin. "Together. Like the spreadsheet-making, overthinker and the overly organized doctor we are."
She laughs, that real, unguarded laugh I love. "We're going to be so annoying. Levi's going to hate us."
"Levi's going to be thrilled. He's been trying to set us up for years."
"We should probably tell him. That this happened."
I glance down at our naked bodies, at the evidence of our activities still visible on her thighs. "Maybe leave out some of the details."
"Definitely leaving out the details." She shifts slightly, then winces.
"You are sore," I say, concerned. "Let me get you cleaned up. Where's your bathroom?"
"Down the hall, first door on the right. But Owen, I can—"
"Stay right there." I stand up, ignoring the protest from my knees after kneeling on her floor for so long. "Let me take care of you."
I find the bathroom easily. It's as cozy and book-filled as the rest of her house, with a stack of paperbacks on the back of the toilet and reading glasses on the sink. I wet a washcloth with warm water and bring it back to the living room.
Ivy's still on the couch, looking beautifully wrecked and slightly embarrassed. "You don't have to—"
"I want to." I kneel between her legs again, gently cleaning her thighs, being careful around her sensitive flesh. She's still leaking a little, and the sight is more arousing than it should be.
Mine. She's mine now.
"There," I say when I'm done. "Better?"
"Yeah. Thank you." She sits up, reaching for her clothes. "I should probably get dressed. This is weird, right? Being naked on my couch?"
"Little bit, yeah. But good weird." I grab my boxers and jeans, pulling them on. "Though for the record, I'm very pro-naked-Ivy."
