Page 101 of The Edge of Summer
“It’s not easy owning up to your mistakes. But you did, and I’m proud of you for that.” I squeeze him tighter. “Everything is going to be okay, Parker.”
He turns to look at me. “How do you know?”
I give him a soft smile. “Because if we could get through the past year, then we can get through anything. But we have to be a team from now on.”
Slowly, he nods. “That means you have to talk to me, too.”
It goes against every one of my impulses, but he’s right. I can’t expect him to trust me with his feelings if I don’t trust him with mine. “Agreed,” I say. “I didn’t want to talk about them because I didn’t want to fall apart. I didn’t realize how much that hurt you. But I promise I’m going to try. You and Soph deserve that.”
Before Parker can respond, the sound of grass crunching comes from behind us. Parker and I pull apart, looking over our shoulders to find Luke. His face is full of worry as he looks between us.
“Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” he says. “Tell me to go and I will.”
Parker clears his throat, standing from the bench. He jerks a thumb toward the house. “It’s fine. I’m gonna head back inside.”
I stand, feeling too restless to stay seated. My brother nods at Luke on his way by, and then he continues on toward the house. I round the bench, coming face to face with Luke. I have him right in front of me, but suddenly, everything I wanted to say earlier seems to fall out of my head.
I tilt my chin up, meeting his gaze. “Chief?”
His lips quirk slightly at the familiarity of the nickname. “Yeah, Shutterbug?”
“I miss you, too.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
LUKE
Now that I’mstanding in front of Delilah, my tongue is tied. And then she tells me she misses me, too, and I swear I’ve never felt more alive. I take another step until the tips of my shoes touch the tips of hers. The heels she has on tonight offer her extra inches, but she still has to tip her chin upwards to meet my gaze. I have to wait for it, but eventually I get to see her grey-blue irises, shining in the waning sun.
She is as breathtaking as ever in her black cocktail dress. I itch to pull her into my arms, where she should have been all along. But I’m done ignoring what’s been right in front of me.
“I miss you,” she continues with a sad smile, “but it’s too hard to be around you. Maybe one day we can start over—be friends. It’s just a little too much right now.”
Friends? Fuck being friends. I want it all with her. I want to marry her; make a family with her. I want to watch her gather the courage to start her photography business. I want to be there to see Sophia grow up and to watch Parker growinto himself. I want her to wear my ring and call herself my wife. I want her to be the mother of my children.
Everything meant nothing until I met her.
“No.”
Her shoulders fall. Just a little, but I catch it. “Then I don’t know what you want from me, Luke, but I can’t keep doing this.”
She steps backwards and turns toward the house. But I’ve already had to endure watching her walk away more than once—I’m not doing it again. I grab her hand and spin her around. She hits my chest with a gasp, and I keep her in place by curving one hand over her waist and letting the other get tangled in the fall of her dark hair.
“I figured it out.”
Her eyes search mine. “Figured what out?”
“You asked me once why I cared that you were upset.” Being in her orbit is dangerous—always has been—but I’m not scared. Not anymore. “I didn’t have an answer then. But I have one now.”
Her lips part, perhaps in disbelief. “You remember that?”
“I remember everything when it comes to you. You’re impossible to forget.” My fingers slip from her hair and settle at her neck. My thumb brushes her pulse, both erratic and strong. “I care, Delilah, because I have unknowingly been waiting for you my whole damn life.”
“Luke…”
“You have the power to ruin me,” I say. “You already have. I am utterly wrecked for anyone else. Hell, there is no one else. It’s you for me, pretty girl. Only you. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that.”
