Page 100 of The Last Thing
“I notice every tiny detail about you.”
Rolling over, I nestle against him.
“I suppose I notice the little things with you too. Like how happy you were tonight. It’s not only that you were smiling more than a monster should’ve been, but it was in your eyes. There was this extra lightness all night.”
He strokes his fingers over my collarbone. “You’ve brought that out in me since the night we met.”
“You say that a lot, but really, I think I make you feel safe enough to let it out. You always wanted to but didn’t feel you could. Either way, tonight was different. I saw that joy on a whole new level.”
“Maybe I’m happy with where I am.” He kisses my jaw. “Whereweare.”
“So am I,” I breathe.
He cups my face with his hand, staring at me like he’s memorizing every tiny detail of my face.
“I love you.”Oh my god.“I don’t need you to say it back.” He shakes his head, pulling me tighter to him. “I don’t want you to. I just need you to hear it and know it. Whenever you’re ready, you can say it to me, but I couldn’t hold it in anymore.” His voice cracks with desperation. “I love you.”
Then his lips are on mine, ripping the breath from my lungs and the thoughts from my brain.
Somewhere inside of me I feel a pang of guilt, like I need to say it back, but he deepens our kiss, showing me how he feels with every touch, every sweep of his tongue.
I don’t have to say it back right now.
Saying it back in general terrifies me, despite what I feel in the depths of my soul, so I give in to our kiss, letting the power of it—the power of him—wash over me and overwhelm me. In moments, we’re a tangled mess and he’s buried deep inside me, showing me with his body how deeply he feels for me.
The connection between us blooms, the roots growing deeper with each movement, and even if I can’t get myself to say the words, I can give him every last piece of me just like this.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
HALLIE
I’m leavinga piece of my heart in Ida.Mostof my heart.
A depressing airport goodbye wasn’t on my bucket list. Then again, neither was getting knocked up from a one-night stand then falling head over heels for that man… and his daughter. Yet, here I am.
Even if I haven’t quite managed to say the words to Wilson yet.
I touch my hand to my chest. Iwantto say it to him, but every time he says them to me, the words shrivel up and die in my throat. It’s stupid. It’s only an acknowledgment of what I feel inside, but it’s like saying them out loud will somehow trigger the universe to rip him away from me.
But if I don’t say the words… will that drive him away?
No. I don’t need to do this in the middle of an airport with Frannie, Justin, and Jade watching. I’m fighting my emotions enough as it is.
“Thanks for driving me to the airport.”
“It’s my job as your man.”
I glance over my shoulder at where Frannie, Justin, and Jade are standing.
“Maybe. But I could’ve ridden with them. I like that you drove me.”
His face is full of that same beautiful joy I see almost all the time now, though today it’s tinged with some wistfulness.
I really need to get it together. This is not some tragic wartime goodbye. We’ll see each other in two days.
“I want to say goodbye too,” Sophia says.
Of course Sophia had to come too. There was no way she was letting her dad drive me to the airport without coming along to say goodbye.
