Page 84 of Flynn

He was here, he was standing right here, and he looked better than I remembered. I opened my mouth to speak, to say something,anything,but he held up a hand to me and I frowned. The moment he brought up a big white card from beside him, I started laughing. He was really going toLove Actuallyme.

He grinned and I read the card.

“Don’t speak. I need to tell you how I feel, and if you’re going to tell me you can’t do this, I’d rather not hear the words.”

I looked back at his face. He was happy, hopeful, but I could see the shadows of doubt and hated that they were there at all.

“Of course, every good romance needs its own soundtrack. Since we already borrowed moments from Swayze, I figure we can borrow this song too.”

I laughed and nodded.

“Chiara, I have loved you since we were kids. I didn’t know it at the time, and I never would have admitted it, but there was a reason you were the only one who could get through to me.”

My laughter died, and I took in a stuttered breath at his words.

“You got under my barriers. You got through the walls I put up, and you took up space in my heart without me even knowing it. For over ten years, you’ve had a space there that no one has been able to touch.”

I blinked when my eyes burned and for the first time took note of Kate and Sofia somewhere behind Flynn on the other side of the fence. Trev and Carol were there too, everyone smiling. I turned back to Flynn asUnchained Melodycontinued to blast loudly from the old boom box sitting on Sofia’s car.

“Whether you knew it or not, you were with me during my training in the Army, and you were with me through both tours overseas. You were the voice in my head when I came home telling me I was worth more than I let myself believe, and that I could do something with my artistic ability.”

I bit my lower lip and hugged my arms around myself, feeling my heart break and heal at his words.

“I know these last few months have been tough on you, and you’ve been through hell and back. I wanted to be there with you, but I knew you needed to do it without me there. But there hasn’t been a single second of any day that’s passed where you haven’t been on my mind.”

God, this was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.

“Ara, I love your smile, the real ones you give me that are just mine. I love how your eyes go from dove gray to quicksilver when your mood changes. I love how you care for everyone around you, and your first instinct is to heal rather than judge. I love how I feel when I’m around you—like anything is possible—and how much strength you give me.”

He was the one who gave me strength. Surely, he knew that?

“I love how you never accept less than what you deserve, and how you demand it from those in your life. I love how you call me out when I’m being an idiot and when you see me lying to myself.”

“But most of all… I love you.”

I flicked my gaze back to his face to see him watching me, a vulnerability in his eyes I’d never seen before.

“If you don’t feel the same, or you want me to leave you alone, then please… go back into the house and I’ll leave you alone. But if you resonate with the words of our song, then stay. Speak up and tell me if you’re still mine, and I’ll wait for you, however long it takes.”

God, this man.

A tear spilled over onto my cheek, and I hurried down the steps of my house, not wanting to wait a second longer. Flynn let the final card drop to the ground and I ran for him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He caught me, those strong arms wrapping me up and holding me tight, and I’d never felt safer inmy life.

Applause from our small audience broke out, but I ignored it.

“I love you too,” I told him as he lowered me back to my feet. His green eyes warmed, and his gaze skimmed over my face as if he were memorizing it. “I have missed you so much, and I’m sorry I sent you away. I just had to be sure. I needed to know that what you were feeling wasn’t some sort of guilt or responsibility toward me. I needed to know you loved me too because I couldn’t handle the thought of you waking up one day and realizing it had all been a big mistake. I never could have survived that and—”

Flynn pressed a finger to my lips and smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling with warmth.

“I know, Angel. I know, and I understand.”

Tears burned my eyes. “I’ve loved you since were kids. Since you gave the girl who lived across the road a safe place to have her first kiss with no consequences attached. I loved you still when you showed up to save me from humiliation at my best friend’s wedding, and I loved you all the more when you actually saved me. I love you, Flynn.”

His green eyes shone with a sheen of unshed tears, and he pressed his forehead to mine as he struggled to take a full breath. “I love you, Ara. You’re my Angel, my first and last love.”

“Stop talking and kiss her already!”

I laughed at Kate’s call from behind Flynn and he grinned down at me. Not wanting to wait another second, I leaned up on my toes to meet his kiss halfway. The second our lips touched, it felt as though the world had finally righted itself, and I could allow myself to breathe again for the first time since I’d sent him away.

His arms around me felt like home, and his kiss held my future.

This was it; this was real. There was no more faking it with Flynn.

We were on the same page.

Finally… and forever.

---