Page 406 of Faking the Goal

Another ripple of laughter moves around us, but Kentaro's eyes never leave mine.

"I can't promise you that nothing bad will ever happen to us. I can't promise life will always be easy. But I can promise that whatever happens, you will never go through it wondering whether I'm staying."

A tear finally slips down his cheek.

"I'm staying, Taylor. For all of it."

Oh.

Fuck me.

"I choose you when things are good. I choose you when they're fucking awful. I'll choose you when we're twenty-seven and when we're eighty-seven, and every ordinary day in between. I love you, Trouble. I love you more than I knew I was capable of loving another person, and I'll spend the rest of my life making damn sure you never forget it."

By the time he finishes, I'm openly sobbing.

Not cute little bridal tears either. My shoulders are shaking, my nose is probably turning red, and whatever waterproof mascara miracle Sam performed upstairs is currently undergoing the ultimate field test.

Kentaro laughs softly and immediately reaches up, catching my tears with his thumbs.

"Don't," I whisper.

"Don't what?"

"Wipe them. You're just going to make me cry more."

"Then I'll keep wiping them."

Of course he fucking will.

The officiant gives me a moment before turning toward me. "Taylor?"

I suck in a shaky breath and look down at the vows in my hand.

Then I look at Kentaro.

And suddenly I don't need the paper nearly as much as I thought I would.

"Before you, I didn't know how to receive love."

Kentaro's smile disappears, his expression immediately softening.

"I knew how to want it. God, I wanted it so badly. I just spent most of my life convincing myself that I didn't, because wanting something you don't think you're ever going to have hurts a hell of a lot more than pretending you don't need it."

My voice trembles, but I keep going.

"Then you showed up and gave me everything I'd spent years telling myself wasn't meant for someone like me. You gave me safety without making me feel weak for needing it. You gave me somewhere to belong without asking me to earn my place there. You gave me a family. You gave me your family. You gave me a future I was actually excited to imagine."

His eyes fill again.

"And every single time some stupid little voice inside me whispered that I didn't deserve any of it, you loved me louder until I started believing maybe I did."

Kentaro closes his eyes for half a second.

When they open again, tears are sitting on his lashes.

"You saw every broken piece of me, Kentaro. Every ugly scar. Every fear. Every part of myself I spent years hiding because I thought if anyone saw all of me, they'd eventually decide I was too much trouble."

His lips twitch.