Page 131 of Sweet Ruin

“I’m sorry, Miss, but we have to take him now,” a paramedic said.

I slowly nodded and stepped back from the stretcher, but I felt so shaky, and my chest constricted as I watched them carry him away. Each step they took from me, each little foot of distance that was put between Noah and me, felt like agony.

Wes came to stand at my side and rubbed my arm as we watched Noah leave. I wondered if he could sense the pain I was in. The shock I felt. If he knew just how much I was struggling.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m shaken but I’m fine.” Somehow, I was able to turn from Noah to focus on Wes. “Are you okay? I can’t believe you tackled him. Thank you. We might not be standing here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Yes, well, I wasn’t fast enough,” he said. “If I’d just done something before he fired…”

“You were fast enough that no one else was hurt. I hate to think what William would have done next if you hadn’t intervened.”

We both fell silent, and I pushed down a shudder

“You should be with him,” Wes said.

“What?”

“You should be with Noah.” He blew out a breath. “Didn’t you hear what he said to his grandfather before he was shot? He loves you. He jumped in front of a bullet for you. He ran into a burning building for you. Being with you might just kill him, but he loves you, and I think you love him too.”

“Wes…”

His lips curved slightly in a wistful smile. “I know you care about me, and this isn’t easy for me to say, but you belong with Noah. Don’t let me stand in the way of the two of you. You’re only punishing yourselves.”

I turned toward Noah, who was about to disappear from view as the paramedics wheeled him off. I felt the pull toward him. An undeniable string that connected us, tugging me closer. It beaconed me to go after him.

It felt like we were two parts of the same soul, and I wasn’t sure I could fight the need to be with him anymore. Loving him, being with him was a risk. But it felt like a far greater risk to my heart if I kept denying the way I felt.

Tears leaped to my eyes. It was so hard to accept my feelings for Noah and act on them, but I think Wes could see the realization dawning in me that he was right because he nodded toward the ambulance.

“Go,” he insisted.

I reached out and gently rested my fingers on his arm, a sad smile touching my lips, and then I was off. Racing after Noah like my life depended on it. Like I couldn’t spend another moment with these feelings bottled up inside of me.

The paramedics had reached the ambulance, and by the time I caught up with them, Noah was in the back of it. They were beginning to close the doors.

“Wait!” I yelled.

One of the paramedics turned at the sound of my voice, but I didn’t give her a chance to try to stop me as I barreled into the back of the vehicle with them.

“You can’t be in here, Miss,” she said.

But my eyes were only on Noah.

“I love you,” I blurted out. “Noah, I love you so much. You nearly died tonight, and I just can’t handle the thought of a world without you in it. A world where you don’t know just how much you mean to me. I’ve loved you even when I’ve hated you, and I just needed you to know.”

Noah’s face was so pale, but a beaming smile widened his lips. “I already knew all of that, Crash. I was just waiting for you to realize it too.”

I let a laugh break through my tears and lowered my head to his. Our lips met in a soft kiss that somehow soldered together the many cracks that had splintered my heart and forged it into something new. Something unbreakable.

When I pulled away, he stared up at me. His eyes were filled with awe, like perhaps my heart hadn’t been the only one the kiss had mended. His lips slowly tugged upward into the kind of devastatingly beautiful smile that made me want to kiss him again and again. I reached over and placed a hand on his chest, and he lifted his own to keep it there.

The paramedic cleared her throat. “Miss, I’m going to have to ask you to get out of the vehicle.”

I’d forgotten she was even there. But her voice shook me back to reality. The thought of leaving Noah’s side was impossible.

“No,” Noah demanded. “She’s coming with us.”

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