Page 96 of Replay

I wish I could take the pain pouring off her body and wash it all away in the tide, never to return again.

“And as for me and Nate. We may not be perfect, but I think we’ve discovered we can’t live without each other. Us sharing a sister isn’t going to change that. I’m done lettingtheiractions affect our happiness.” I kiss her cheek.

Our arms hold on to each other's and her eyes harden. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to face my mom again, and from the way your dad handled things yesterday, I’m not sure that I want to even attempt a relationship with him either…” She pauses, and the thought of him hurting her the way he’s hurt me makes my empty stomach sour. “I just don’t think I can take the rejection right now, but maybe one day.”

I nod and reassure her. “Whatever you decide, I’ll always support you, but I will tell you, the man I thought he was when I was a kid, he no longer exists, and I’m honestly not sure he ever did. But with that said, do what feels right for you, but just be careful, and please don’t shut me out.”

Willow smiles, nodding. “I won’t.”

Holding each other for seconds or maybe minutes, Willow whispers, “I love you, Sister.”

Tears well in my eyes. “I always prayed for a sister when I was a young girl. And little did I know, I had the very best one waiting for me right down the road, being loved and protected by the boy I would one day fall head over heels for.”

She leans back and smiles a genuine smile this time, one that brightens her eyes. “Sounds like destiny to me.”

Hours later, Nate and I have our legs tangled as we lie in each other arms under his sheets. The drive back was a quiet one, and the guys slept on and off. Nate insisted on me taking a nap while he drove part of the way. I think we were all decompressing.

When we got home, Graham, the twins, Bellamy, and Darby were waiting on us with a home-cooked meal from Gigi Leblanc. We had debriefed them slightly on Saturday night’s events after Graham called us, frantically searching the hotel for our whereabouts, but we promised to explain further today.

They’re all like family to us at this point, so we wanted them to fully understand what was going on. We explained the situation to all of them and they respected us not to pry deeper into things.

Nate squeezes me to him even tighter. “I know that our argument from the other night got lost in the chaos of things, but I owe you an apology.”

This is one of the things I digested on the quiet drive home.

I shake my head. “I would have done the same thing. And honestly, I’d been wanting to bring the situation back up so I could explain to you that nothing happened for a very long time after we broke up, but I never wanted the mention of his name to ruin our time.”

“After the bomb Willow dropped this weekend, Carter Graves seems a lot less important. As long as I’m who you want now, that’s all I care about.”

“You are what I always wanted, Nathan,” I whisper, nuzzling my nose into his chest.

“Even after everything from this weekend?” he asks, but doesn’t give me time to respond before he continues, “I’ve been anxious since Willow told us, and I think a lot of that is because of what happened the last time a revelation like this occurred involving our parents.”

I tilt my head up, kissing his chin. “Baby, you have nothing to worry about. I’m not going anywhere. I barely made it through the last time I had to live without you; I don’t ever want to do it again.”

Nate’s hazel eyes blur with unshed tears. “I’m not sure I can put into words how much hearing you say that means to me,” he smiles through the emotion. “Maybe I’ll write about it later when I can get all my thoughts out.”

“I’d like that,” I whisper, running my fingers through his hair.

I love this man so much.

“It shouldn’t have taken me so long to say this, but…”

The anticipation shining in his eyes makes my heart skip a beat.

I kiss his chest. “I...”

Then I shimmy up the bed and kiss his cheek. “Love...”

Trailing a line of kisses across his jaw, I whisper, “You,” across his lips before I fuse my mouth to his.

He kisses me back, and it's hard to describe, but I feel his love pouring into me. Since the moment he stepped foot in Mountain Ridge, his actions have shown me nothing but the purest love. I just wasn’t ready to see it.

We break apart for air, but he keeps his forehead against mine. “I love you, BB.”

I smile, my lips barely centimeters from his own. “Thank you for coming back to me.” My thumb finds the spot on his skin where my initials are etched.

He glances down at the octopus inked on his arm. “Want to know another thing I remembered from the aquarium field trip that day?”

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