Page 97 of Crash
“I’m not empty when we’re together and neither are you. You trusted me with so much—”
“Exactly,” she spat. “Trusted.”
Ash glared at me and edged between us.
“You’re the most precious thing in the world to me,” I said. “Even more than my stupid career. I skipped out on the press conference to come find you. I don’t care if they kick me out, I’d give it all up for you.”
“He might actually get dropped for skipping out on that,” Ash drawled. “Happy days.”
Violet shrank behind Ash, her expression full of fear.She was afraid of me.
“Violet,” I pleaded. “Tell me what I need to do and I won’t hesitate.”
Ash squared his jaw. “You need to leave off and get the fuck away from me, is what you need to do. I warned you what would happen if you hurt her. I don’t give a shit who’s watching.”
“Beat the shit outta me if you want, but I’m not leaving unless Vee tells me to.”
Ash rolled his eyes, put his arm around Vee’s shoulders and led her toward the check-in desk. She was walking away from me. It was now or never.Lay it all on the line, Hayes.
“Violet,” I cried. “I love you. I’ve loved you since we were kids.” She paused, her shoulders shaking. “I wish I’d figured it out sooner. I wish…”
She turned around to faceme, her eyes red with tears, and her hand slipped off the handle of her suitcase. It fell to the floor with a thud and Ash reached for it.
“Please don’t tell me it’s too late,” I murmured, holding my hands out. “I’m nothing without you. You changed me for the better, Vee. With you, everything is brighter.Without you?I don’t even want to know what a world without you in my arms is like.I love you.”
Her expression began to crumple and for a moment, I thought she was going to rip me a new asshole. I mean,I deserved it for the stupid decisions I’d made when I first started at Pulse, but that didn’t happen at all. The fearless Violet that I’d fallen in love with when I was sixteen years old, pushed past her brother and threw herself into my arms, her mouth finding mine.
Winding my arms around her waist, I held her against me tightly as her lips parted and her tongue found mine. I kissed her with everything I had, tasting her salty tears on her skin. The entire world fell away while she was in my arms, and I forgot about Ash, I forgot about the stupid airport, and I forgot about the press conference I was supposed to be at right now. All I cared about was Violet, and when we finally parted, her fingers found the dimple in my cheek, and a smile was on her lips.
“I’ll never disappoint you again,” I murmured.
“You better not.”
Cupping her face in my hands, I brushed her tears away with my thumbs and leaned my forehead against hers. “Fuck, I love you.”
She smiled then, the light coming back into her eyes. “I love you too.”
Thirty-Seven
Violet
Staring across the Sydney skyline, I held my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sun.
Conquering fear seemed to be the flavor of the month as I stood next to Lincoln on the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We’d gotten up early to climb the iconic structure with a tour group, and so far, it had been nothing short of exhilarating. Much like the feelings that were stirred up in me every morning when I woke up next to the handsome fighter.
Pulling at the safety rope that held us into place along the bridge itself, I leaned against him.
“Some view, huh?” he asked, winding an arm around my waist.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
“You’re askin’ me this now?” He feigned outrage, and I laughed. “You look hot today, just so you know.”
I pulled at the ugly gray jumpsuit they made us wear for the climb and grimaced.
“Hey, safety first,” he said with a smile.
Ever since he made his grand declaration at the airport, we hadn’t spent a moment apart. Just like the old days, I went to his training sessions and hung out with him and Dean—I even joined in on occasion. Josie swung by a couple of days after Lincoln’s missed press conference to declare that the waters had been smoothed. Apparently, someone had recognized him mid-tirade and filmed us at the Qantas check-in desk. For added bang for his buck, the guy had posted it to YouTube. Then media outlets had picked it up and Lincoln, the handsome AUFC champ, was big news. He was the unlikely face of sensitive new age guys everywhere.
