Page 52 of If the Stars Align
My eyes fill with tears. “You have?”
“Of courseI have. My god—I was a wreck. I’vebeena wreck, these past two years.”
“But…you didn’t…fight for me, Dex.”
He blows out a breath and shakes his head. His jaw tightens. “I wanted to, Sunny. Believe me, I wanted to. But—somehow I became convinced that letting you go was the right thing to do.”
There’s so much pain in his eyes, I have no doubt he’s telling the truth. I nod, and Dex continues. “I did try calling you once.”
My stomach clenches. “You did?”
“A guy answered,” he explains, looking away. “I hung up.”
“That’s why you thought I had a boyfriend,” I say, putting the pieces together. “I did, for a while. It was?—”
Dex kisses my hand. “None of that matters now. No one else matters but us.”
I smile, but my joy is tinged with guilt. “Mia told me she gave you my number, and I gotsomad at her. But really, I was upset because I thought you didn’t call. And I took it out on her. I feel awful.”
Dex props himself on his elbow. “It was a misunderstanding. She’ll forgive you, Sunny. Mia’s a good friend, and she cares about you.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know if our friendship can come back from this. It’s not just a misunderstanding. Mia and I havebeen growing apart for years. She’s been so happy, and I was so miserable…we were on two different planes. I didn’t even know she was engaged until I saw the ring on her finger.”
Dex runs a hand over his hair. “I’m so sorry, Sunny. You were miserable because ofme.I never should have let you leave that room the night of Ben’s wedding. I should have pulled you into my arms and told you how much you mean to me.” He blinks back tears. “I will never forgive myself for hurting you.”
“It’s my fault too,” I tell him. “I should have been more clear with you about what I needed.”
“None of this was your fault.” Dex takes my face in his palms and kisses me once, twice, and a third time. Tenderly. Adoringly. “I never should have let you go. We’re supposed to be together. I know it.”
My heart swells with insurmountable joy as Dex half-smiles and holds me close to him. I haven’t seen him this happy since the morning of his cousin’s wedding, when he first laid eyes on me in my silver dress. That feels like ages ago. If you’d asked me last week, I could have told you the exact number of days that have passed since then—but I finally stopped counting. I don’t have to anymore, because he’s right here with me.
I’m on top of the world.
Until I remember I’m going to law school. “What are we going to do when I move to Indiana?” I ask Dex. “We’ve been long-distance before, and it was…a disaster.”
“We’ll do better this time. I’ll visit you as much as I possibly can.”
I nod, my spirits lifting. “I have some money saved up frommy data entry job. I’ll visit you too.”
“Just promise you’ll tell me what’s on your mind, okay? If something’s bothering you, I want to fix it.” Dex takes his hand to the side of my face. “I just want you to be happy, Sunny. That’s all I will ever want.”
“I’m happy now,” I say, wiping my eyes.
“Happy tears?” he asks, sweeping his thumb across my cheek.
“Yes,” I say with a growing smile. “They’re happy tears.”
When we wake up again, it’s to the sounds of Dex’s parents in the kitchen. It’s 11:00 a.m. We get dressed and pad sleepily down the stairs. I’m still on cloud nine after the most incredible sex of my life, so it isn’t until I see his parents’ faces that I wonder what they’ll think of me being here, walking in with their son from his bedroom upstairs. But they don’t bat an eye.
“Good morning, honey,” his mom says as she hugs me first, then Dex. His dad is sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper, and we take turns giving him hugs.
“I was just getting breakfast ready,” Mrs. Dexter says as she whisks pancake batter. “Join us, have a seat!” she adds cheerily, but she looks bone-tired, I can see it in her eyes.
“You must be exhausted,” I tell her. “Why don’t you sit, and we’ll take it from here?”
Normally Mrs. Dexter would never dream of it, but today she smiles gratefully and agrees. Dex joins me at the kitchen counter, and that’s when he puts his hands on my waist andgives me a kiss on the lips. A little one—but it’s real—right here in the kitchen, with his parents sitting at the table. I don’t know if they saw it but, either way, Dex doesn’t seem to mind.
I can die right now, and die happy.
