Page 93 of Not Until I Found You

I rake a hand through my already messy hair, searching for the right words. It’s funny how the greatest risk wasn’t the kiss. It’s our honesty that follows. I exhale then reach for her hand, lacing my fingers through hers before I look at her fully.

“I trusted you enough to kiss you,” I say, my thumb brushing the inside of her palm. “That might not sound like a big deal, but to me it is. You made my heart feel safe enough to open again. You changed something in me, Max. And I don’t know what to do with that yet.”

She stares at me. “We don’t have to do anything with it right now. We can just…let this be. Let this grow at its own pace.”

Relief loosens something deep in my chest. I nod, squeezing her hand once more.

“But for the record,” she adds, waiting until I meet her gaze, “I don’t want you thinking you’re the only one feeling something here. I really like you, Zane, and I want to see where this goes. I’d like to spend more time with you and figure out what we’re becoming, if that’s something you want too.”

A nervous smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, hopeful despite the uncertainty lingering in her eyes.

“I’m not asking for promises tonight, and we don’t need to put a label on anything yet. But when you’re ready…” Her fingers tighten around mine. “I’d like to take that step with you.”

Emotion swells in my chest. Every fear I’d been carrying of getting this wrong and the possibility of losing her, of opening my heart only to watch someone walk away again, begins to loosen its grip. She isn’t asking me to prove anything tonight. She’s simply choosing me anyway.

“I’d like that too,” I admit. “But for the record, I’ve spent way too long pretending I only want to be your friend. I’d like you to be my girlfriend.”

Her cheeks immediately flush pink. “Oh, really?”

“Really.”

The smile she gives me is bright enough to make my heart stumble. She stays right where she is, our hands still joined, her thumb tracing a slow, absentminded line along my knuckle. Her hair is a little wild from my hands being tangled within it moments before. Her eyes are hazy, lashes dark against flushed cheeks, but there’s a steadiness in her gaze now.

“We shouldn’t waste these delicious sandwiches,” I add.

She releases my hand, a small grin on her face as she tucks her legs beneath her on the stool, getting comfortable again. As I finish the last few bites of my sandwich, there’s a certainty that’s washed over me since the moment she kissed me. Even as we slip back into easy banter and shared laughter, I’ve found myself in something that only God could have put me in.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Maxinne

The summer heat is already sticking to my skin this morning, promising another hot day ahead. I personally love summer and how the warmth feels as if it’s wrapped around me like a hug. I welcome its comfort as I step off the porch to make my way over to Zane’s cabin.

I spent most of the night awake, staring at the wooden ceiling, replaying over and over everything I said and didn’t say to my Dad. With it came the memory of the sharpness in my tone, the silence that followed, and the expression on his face when I walked out of his house without saying goodbye.

Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?

Zane is already on his porch. Steam curls from the mug in his hands as he leans against the railing, his gaze fixed somewhere out past the lake. I pause to admire him.

The early light catches in his hair, turning the darker strands to gold. The sleeves of his shirt are pushed up, exposing forearms lined with strength earned through years of hard, honest work. His jaw is shadowed with stubble, and there’s a crease between his brows as he concentrates on the lake in the distance.

Once he notices me, his entire face changes. A ridiculous grin threatens to take over my face because some part of me is still standing back, blinking in mild disbelief. It’s hard to reconcile the girl who drove into Covewood months ago—bruised, guarded and absolutely not looking for a relationship—with the girl who can’t stop smiling because Zane Quinn is now her boyfriend.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” I give him a small wave and make my way up his porch steps.

He glances down at the grocery bag dangling from my wrist, one eyebrow lifting, as he asks, “What’s that?”

“You bought me Olipops so I wanted to buy you your favorite drink.”

I reach inside the bag and pull out a six-pack of chocolate Ensure drinks, holding it out like I’ve just presented him with a grand prize. He stares at the bottles for a few seconds before his head drops back in laughter.

“No way.” He presses a hand over his heart. “Maxinne…you bought me Ensure?”

I shrug, fighting a smile. “It was the least I could do.”

He shakes his head, still laughing as he takes the pack from me. “This is, by far, the most romantic gift I’ve ever been given.”