Page 45 of Taken With You

She reached out, tracing my brow with her fingertips.

I closed my eyes and barely resisted the urge to lean in to her touch.

“But because I knew your dad, and I knew of you through him, I stayed away. I knew I needed to keep my distance.”

“But then you asked me to dance,” she whispered.

I nodded. “And it was the best moment of my life. I’m sorry I didn’t stay away.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do the same.”

I closed my eyes, holding back everything so I could breathe and focus. “We’re out, though, babe. And we’re always going to be.”

She looked at me then, her eyes wide.

“We’re not those people anymore. We’re allowed to move on and have a future. I want to know you. The person in front of me. I want to test the path we could have together. I want to figure out what this thing between us could be. Please, forgive me. Know that no matter what happens, I’m not the person I was before. I tried to atone for my sins, attempted to find the path that led to a salvation that I knew would never truly come. But in my heart, I hope that you’re on that road with me. Maybe not on the bike behind me because riding is such a different thing, but perhaps holding my hand as I try to figure things out.”

I snorted as I finished, shaking my head as she stood there staring.

“I was never good with poetry. But just know that I fell for you when I held you that first time. When you wore that green dress that made your eyes shine. I fell in love with you when you said yes to my request to dance, and even more when I had my lips on yours for the first time. And I’m going to love you for the rest of my life. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you, for bringing back the past. But I know that if we try, we have a chance. There can be a future where it’s not about where we came from, or the sins we committed. But rather what we can do to atone for them. I hope you’ll be by my side as we do it. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

She was quiet for so long that I had to wonder what to do. Did I get up off my knees and walk out? Did I keep speaking? Or did I remain kneeling and stay silent?

Her hands caressed my face, and a single tear fell down her cheek.

“I didn’t know you before. But I know you now. And I think…I think we can try.”

My heart burst open, hope and pain radiating through me and twirling around like a tornado.

I could hardly breathe, barely comprehend what she’d said. Nothing had ever felt like this before. And there were no blueprints. No roadmaps for me to figure out what to say or what to do.

“I fell for you then, too. Or maybe it was when you smiled at me from behind the bar. Or when you touched my jaw to see if I was okay. I want to know who you are, too. I want to find that peace and figure out what to do. I don’t want to think about where we came from. I just want to move on. I want to figure out who we are now. And there’s nothing to forgive, Beckham. We both have our faults. It’s what we do with our lives now that matters.”

I pulled her close, put my hand on the back of her head, and tugged her lips to mine.

And when she succumbed, kissing me back, I knew that we could do this. This was the moment we would start again.

I had been taken with her all along, since the first moment I met her.

When we were two separate journeys intertwined.

We would have to figure things out, and there would be more bumps in our road.

But as she kissed me, I knew we could weather the storm.

We had each other. I had her.

The girl in the green dress with the wide eyes.

She was mine.

Epilogue

I found my perfection. Him.

No, he’s not perfect. Nor am I.

But we can find our own way.