“I’m here,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine. “And I’m sorry, Mateo.”
He slowly let me down, but his hands slipped into mine, holding them as he met my gaze.
“I shouldn’t have left, especially the way I did. I’m sorry. I’ve thought about you—both of you—non-stop, but I needed to work through some things.”
“It’s okay,” I said quickly.
His expression softened. “Mateo.”
My breath hitched. “It’s not okay.”
“It hasn’t been.”
“No,” I said. “It hasn’t. I’ve missed you every fucking day. And I think Avery and I have cried enough to fill up an ocean. We talk about you all the time. We needed you.”
Levi swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m here.”
“Visiting again?”
“No,” he whispered. “I’mhere, Mateo. I sold my place. I had to work through some contract stuff with my agent but she got me taken care of. I’m officially done with the NHL. All of my stuff will be arriving in the next few days and I have no idea where I’ll even put it, but I’m here. Texas is my home. And you and Avery will be my home, if you want me.”
“If wewant.” An ugly, snotty little laugh bubbled up. “Yeah, Levi. Wewant. I mean, you’ll have to see her yourself. But I want. I want this.”
“I do too. More than anything else.”
“What took you so long? Why didn’t you reach out?”
“Because I fucked up. I’ve spent the last few weeks torturing myself. I’ve dreamed about the two of you every night. Then I was afraid to reach out. So I did what I do best and started planning.”
“Did you make your little spreadsheets?”
“I did.” The corner of his mouth tugged. “There’s a column full of things I wanted to do to earn your forgiveness.”
“Oh. Is there?” I couldn’t help but smirk. “What kind of things?”
“Mostly romantic things.”
“Like flowers on the floor?”
“Yes.”
“And . . .”
“And you’ll find out if you want.” He chuckled. “When I came back, I wanted to prove to both of you that I’m in this.”
“What if . . . What if we didn’t take you back?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Well, I really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But if it were, that doesn’t change the fact that this place is right for me.”
“Good thing that’s not the case.”
I kissed him hard, every part of me feeling light. Like I could breathe again. I slowly gave him a wild grin and he narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t you dare say it.”
“I’m going to,” I said. “Ihaveto.”
He sighed dramatically, but I could tell he wanted to hear it.
