Page 62 of About That Rule

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither admitting to how affected they were by ending their marriage.

Samantha sat down in the chair next to him. “Where did we go wrong?”

There it was.

The million-dollar question.

With no answer.

HIDING THEIR FEELINGS.

There.

In Nate’s head, he was able to sum up rather quickly where they’d gone wrong.

Now, because they’d both gone leaps and bounds trying not to lose their friendship, they’d lost something even more important: a future together. Nate sat in the chair, holding Samantha’s hand in his as they waited patiently. It was like they expected the judge or Charlotte to come in and dictate the way to solve this.

Fuck it.

If this was his last chance to tell Samantha the truth, if this was his last chance for a happy future, he was going for it.

He had to do what he found most uncomfortable: talk about his feelings.

“Samantha, I need you to hear me out.”

She squeezed the hand she held, which he took as acknowledgment.

“Ever since we woke up married, which was hectic and crazy and confusing and—”

“Nate,” Sam interrupted him, “I was there, I know.”

He coughed to cover the groan at how he was messing this up already. Feelings were for the birds.

“Right, right. The point I’m making, or trying to make, is, for me, once I found out we were married, I went into panic mode.”

Her brown eyes glittered with sadness. “Please don’t tell me you want to rehash every wrong turn we took. I don’t think I can do that. At least not today.”

“All I need you to do is listen to me, okay?”

She nodded to listen, but the hesitation he saw it was like his words were going to ruin her day. Damn, he wished he was better with his words so he could make her happier. He had to make his message clear. He’d save all the sweetness for another day. Today, he had to make sure she knew, beyond all the poetic words and romantic gestures, he loved her. She was it for him.

“Okay, when I found out we were married, a piece of me was like I can’t lose my best friend. But another piece of me felt relieved. Like it had finally happened. After all the years of friendship, we’d decided to up the ante and be together. Granted, it didn’t happen the way either of us planned, but here we are, at the cusp of either ending the long road we took to get here or…”

Nate looked at her and smiled. He could look at her every day and never tire of seeing her. It was like all his life, he’d been waiting for the moment when he could cross the line and fall in love with this woman. For the stars to align where she’d be crazy enough to give him a chance, despite his past and their close-knit families.

“Oh shit, Nate,” Samantha breathed heavily. “What is the or? You can’t just stop when you get to the or part of the conversation.”

“Or I can promise you, every day, I will try to be the best damn husband to you. We can figure out the semantics of where we live later, though I did buy that house already. I still have time until closing, but it would be perfect for us. What’s most important right now is this: I promise to be there for you. To love and support you. To be the husband you deserve.”

Nate took the hand that wasn’t holding hers and wiped a tear from his face. This romance shit was no joke.

“I promise to always try to be a better man for you. I will wake up every morning grateful you are my wife. If you let me.”

She cupped his face and rubbed her nose against his. “Is your or that we stay married?”

“Yes. I love you, Samantha. Let’s or the hell out of marriage.”

HER HEART WASfluttering as fast as could be. After all the rules, all the games—hell, all the walking on eggshells, Nate wanted to stay married.