Page 60 of Words I Couldn't Say
“Do you remember the night I told you I never wanted to fall in love?” she asked.
I swallowed hard. Did I remember it? Hell, I couldn’t forget it if I tried. Her declaration had come at a time when I’d only recently realized I’d had feelings for her, ones I’d soon learned were unrequited when she’d decided love was for idiots.
“Yeah, I remember,” was all I gave her.
She smiled tenderly. “I always thought it was cute the way Mom and Dad had nicknames that meant something to them from such a young age. Tod and Copper. Heck, I called Dad Cop before I ever said, ‘Dad’.”
I nodded and smiled at what was one of Jeremy’s favorite stories. “Until you watched the movie.”
The memory of that night swam back into my head. Ava and I had been nine years old. It had been a rainy weekend, and we’d been stuck inside, watching movies the entire time. Jeremy had dug out a box of what he’d deemed “old classics from the previous century.” Ava and I had huffed, neither of wanting to watch those old cartoons. We’d been engrossed, however, and loved each movie. That is until the ending credits ofThe Fox and The Houndhad rolled in a cruel fashion and without the kind of happy ending our child brains had craved.
“I never wanted to fall in love. Not if it meant you have to say goodbye,” she recounted, tears in her eyes. She blinked then looked at me. “But then you wiped away my tears and held my hand. You changed my perspective.”
I recalled—and was surprised by my childlike wisdom. I wished I could’ve taken credit, but it was something my father had said to me when my dog, Boomer, had died in his sleep.“You can’t be sad for what you’ve lost. You have to be happy with what you had when you had it.”It still stuck with me.
Ava sniffed. She reached her hands out and took hold of mine. “You were so right, Tucker. But I don’t want that to be us. I don’t want to look back on my life and be happy I had you for a time. I want to live my life happy that you’re still in it.”
My stomach tightened. “In my heart, there’s always been a memory…of you, of us, and it’s never left.”
She released my hand and crawled into my lap, where she placed her hand over my heart. “I’m glad you’ve had that memory. But, Tucker,Iwant to be what’s in your heart. Because you’re in mine. From the deepest depths of my soul, I love you. I’ve always loved you. Iwill, for the rest of my life and what lies beyond, only ever love you.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and rolled so she was flat on her back and I was hovering over her. “Three words, baby,” I whispered, staring down into her beautiful blues.
“I love you,” she murmured breathlessly.
“You.” I kissed her firmly on the lips. “Are.” Another Kiss. “Mine.”
Three words. So simple, yet they said everything. But, like I’d said before, actions will always back my words up, so I wasted no time claiming every inch of Ava’s body, thrilled beyond belief that I’d finally claimed her heart. And I was never letting her go again.
Shortly after Ava had fallen asleep, I found myself unable to do the same. I stared up at the ceiling as her words resounded in my head. That was it. All the blood, sweat, and tears I’d endured to writeThose Three Wordshad finally paid off. It was all finally worth it. Because the acclaim, the money, the movie deal—none of it would have mattered if she hadn’t come back in my life.
