Page 140 of On The Edge

“Hi, Madds. Fancy meeting you here.”

“What? Hi. I mean . . . Cruz.”

“This is where we started. Here. On this jet. When I pulled you into my lap to prove a point—that we could pull this off. It was then I knew I was in a shitstorm of trouble. You just fit. In my lap. In my arms. In my life. You sat down and tried to pretend I didn’t affect you and from then on, I spent every second of every minute of every day pretending you didn’t affect me either. But I failed. Because not only did you affect me, you scared me. You made me want to be more. You made me want to be better. And I’m sorry that it took you leaving for me to realize it. For me to own it. So I’m giving you this E—if you’ll have it. It stands for Everything. As in you’re my everything. That I think about. That I want. That I need. Just you. Just this. Just us. Everything else is just outside noise we can figure out.”

I move to him. I can barely see through the blurry tears nor breathe over the emotion balled in my throat, but I know his arms wrapped around me will fix it all. Will make it worth it.

I sink into the firm feel of him, the scent of his cologne, the sound of his sigh, the steady beat of his heart against my cheek.

And I feel like I’m home for the first time since I left him all those weeks ago.

What are you willing to sacrifice, Hart?

Anything. Everything. If Kevin only knew when he was asking me that question how my answer would change over time, I’m not so sure he’d ask it anymore.

He leans back and frames my face and kisses me. It’s slow and sweet and everything I’ve missed and craved and wanted.

He rests his forehead against mine.

“I need you, Madds. I’ll keep learning, keep trying, keep accepting that you love me and aren’t going to leave me, but I might slip up at times. I might spook. And when I do, just know it’s only because I love you so much it hurts. I want you to sow the rest of your oats with me. As a team. Fighting for one another. Fighting against the world—just the two of us. I never stopped loving you. I simply believed you couldn’t possibly love me . . . and that was wrong of me. I just hope—”

I launch myself harder against him. My lips claiming and hands owning. “I never stopped loving you, Cruz. Not for a single minute.” But it’s then that it hits me. What Tessa said about caving. About giving up my dream. About the false bullshit answer I gave her. It’s fine if I say it, but I need him to understand it too. “But . . .”

“But what?” Panic flickers in his eyes.

“But I still need my life. My job. My goals. I love you, Cruz, but you can’t be my beginning, middle, and end.”

He squeezes my hands and his smile steals my heart. “I don’t want to be your beginning, middle, and end. I want to be your bookends. The person you leave in the morning and come home to at night. The person who takes care of you but allows you to be you. I want you to fit me in your life. I want you to let me be a part of yours. I want you to let me love you.” Cruz’s hands frame my face and he bends his knees so his eyes are level with mine. “I love you, Maddix Hart. I love your quirkiness. I love that you love your family. I love your family and how they love you. I have loved watching you grow over the past few months into the woman you are today. The woman who steps up to the plate, reaches for goals, and then smashes them. And I loved how you walked away from me to force me to face my own fears.”

“Loved?” I chuckle.

“Well, not really, but you took a stand. You made me see you knew your worth. Watching you walk away was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But in the process, you taught me more than you’ll ever know.” He presses a kiss to my lips. A kiss I’ve craved for weeks and dreamt of at night. “And while I watched you do all of this, as I witnessed you come into the woman you are, I fell in love with you. Every part of you.”

He leans back, his eyes on mine, and I know he means it. I know he loves me.

And it’s the best damn feeling in the world.

“Thank God you hate the color red,” I murmur and press my lips against his. “Or you might have picked one of those folders.”

He chuckles. “What I thought was going to be the worst day of my life, gave me the best thing ever in my life. You. So what do you say, Madds? Did I earn the E?”

“Everything?” I ask, my smile growing.

“Everything.”

I press my lips to his and kiss him. “You definitely earned it.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Maddix

I missed this.

It’s not like I missed a lot of races, but I missed the charged atmosphere. The anticipation. The rumble of the cars in my chest and the roar of the crowd.

And Christ, how I missed the way Cruz looks in a fire suit, walking toward me before he climbs into his car and kisses me senseless.

The funny thing is I almost missed it because I was too busy staring at Cruz’s post. The one of us with me on his lap, head snuggled under his neck, sound asleep, and his caption. Won my good luck charm back. Now all is right with the world. LOVE this woman with all my heart. #CrossHart