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“You are,” he said as he stood up. “Is everything okay?”
“Well, no,” I said. “You left me.”
“I didn’t leave you,” he said, an edge to his tone. “We were never together. Not really.”
“Weren’t we?” I asked tentatively. “I mean, I know I didn’t do it right. Didn’t treat you right. But we had something, didn’t we? It was more than sex. For me, anyway.”
“For me too,” he admitted.
“Joey, after some of the things I said to you, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to walk away from me and never look back. But do you think— I mean, could you ever—”
Joey was a better man than me. He didn’t make me say the words. He just stepped in close, wrapped his arms around me, and said, “Yeah.”
I exhaled, tucking my face into his neck. Even though he wasn’t making me fight for him, I wanted him to hear the words. To know I meant them.
“I love you,” I murmured. “I know I haven’t done a great job of showing it, but that’s going to change.”
He drew back enough to meet my eyes. “You’re sure you want to go down this road? You saw how that old guy treated me. And your dad—”
“My dad will be okay,” I said. “Dakota showed him the letter. He’s a bit more hardheaded, like me, but he’ll forgive you the same as I did.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“He’ll accept that Dakota and I care about you. Our happiness is important to him too.”
Joey looked conflicted.
“Let’s make this simple,” I said. “Do you love me, Joey?”
“Of course I do, Kit. I’ve loved you the whole time. That’s not the issue here.”
My heart wrenched in my chest. I cupped his face, so precious, in my hands. “I love you too. So please, I’m begging you, Joey, let me try to be the man you deserve.”
“I don’t de—”
I cut him off with a kiss. Words weren’t going to be enough. Dakota was right that Joey was going to need time to believe in my love.
But I’d show him every day just how much I meant it.
How much he meant to me.
Joey pulled back with a gasp. “What the hell have you been eating?”
“Shit, sorry,” I said with a chuckle. “I’ve been gorging on junk food like a slob all day. I thought you were done with me.”
“I could never be done with you,” he said quietly. “I just…I’m not sure this is best for all of you.”
“Of course it is. We love you, Joey. You’ve made your amends. You’ve earned our forgiveness. But you have to accept it, you know? I can’t do that for you.”
His smile was sad. “Yeah, I know. I’m working on it.”
“Okay, so we’ll work on it together.” I pulled up my text stream with Piper and showed it to him. “You’re not the only one who needs help.”
“You booked a counseling session?” he said.
“Piper works at the rehab center, helping people deal with their emotions after life-altering injuries. Dakota had a lot of therapy as part of her recovery. But I was too busy focusing on other things. I never fully dealt with my emotions, and that’s why I think it took me so long to pull my head out of my ass and admit I loved you.”
Joey looked skeptical. “You had good reason.”
