Page 73 of Nights at Seaside
“Did I throw you off your game?”
He laughed under his breath. “That’s one of the things I love about you. You have so much going on, between your shop renovations, your apartment, the grand opening, and still you worry about if you threw me off my game. No, Sky, you showed me that I was playing the wrong game. You opened my eyes.”
Sky’s heartbeat quickened.
“When I was at the house this afternoon, everything sort of hit me at once. Seeing the ramp drove home my father’s fate, which further validated the need for me to win the title fight. But it also made me realize that while we’re busy making it through today and planning for tomorrow, some higher power, or whatever, could already be planning its own actions, which negate ours.”
“You lost me. What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that I don’t want to live my whole life hoping for a day when life will slow down enough, or the time feels right enough, to move forward and start my life. I love you, Sky, and I don’t want to wait another second to tell you. I don’t care that it’s fast. I’ve felt connected to you from the moment I saw you across the room. I love being with you, talking with you, making love with you. I don’t want to miss out on a single second with you, Sky. I don’t want to do what my dad did and work his whole life looking forward to retirement when he and my mom could have more time together—and then have something go wrong.”
“Sawy—” Her voice hitched in her throat.
He pressed his finger to her lips. “Let me finish,” he whispered. “I’m not saying we should get married, but I’m hoping that someday we’ll be ready to. Sky, I want to carve our initials in the rafters. I want to stand in that skycap and look out at the land below with you right there by my side—and one day with our children, if you’re willing—and create our own history. I want to wake up with you in my arms and know that at the end of the day, you’re right there with me, sharing our headaches and celebrating the best times in our lives. I want to grow old with you and watch you do tattoos and paint in your long flowing skirts with your windblown hair and that sparkle in your eyes, while I play the guitar and sing songs that I write for you and our family.”
“Oh, Sawyer.” Sky could hardly speak past the tightening in her throat. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his. “I love you, too. I want all those things, too.”
He exhaled a long sigh of contentment. “This is my last fight, Sky. Once I win, my parents’ financial future will be secure, and then I’m going to retire. No more fighting. I’ll become a trainer so you won’t have to worry.”
“I don’t want you to give up fighting for me. I’m okay with it now, and I don’t want you to resent me.” She could hardly believe how much her feelings had grown for him, and part of that growth meant accepting his career.
“I could never resent you. Fighting has risks, and that might not have mattered before, but now that we haveus? I don’t want to leave our future to chance.”
“You would do that for us?” Sky’s eyes dampened. “Sawyer…”
“Sky, I would do anything for you, and in turn, for us.”
Sky felt their worlds twining together, without hesitation or doubt, and when he drew her closer and whispered his love for her, she sealed her lips over his, cutting him off midsentence, wanting to feel his words as they moved through her body and settled into her soul.
“You’ve turned my world around, Sky,” he said as he laid her down on the cushions. “I want everything with you. I want to make all your dreams come true, and I still don’t even know what they are. What do you want from life?”
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. “I don’t have big wants, Sawyer. I want you, and I want to be happy. I want to get to know your family and have you get to know mine. I want to have a simple life where if we want to shut away the world for an afternoon, we can do so without the rest of our world falling apart. I want to love you and be loved by you.”
THERE WERE NO words for the emotions coursing through Sawyer. Love, happiness, and desire were all there, but they were wrapped in something more important, something bigger. They were wrapped in anticipation for a future with the woman he loved.
He gazed into Sky’s eyes and could feel her love for him. “I will always love you. I will cherish you, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure that you feel safe enough to be strong, or weepy, or silly, or whatever you want or need to be. Because I love you foryou, Sky, and I want all of you.”
He gathered her close, kissing as they stripped each other bare, and when their bodies came together, he savored the bonding of their love.
Chapter Twenty-One
AFTER A MORNING of skinny-dipping, making love, and teasing each other about being eaten by sharks while naked, Sawyer and Sky showered in the cabin, then took a leisurely sail to Nantucket. It was a sunny morning, and there was a nice breeze as they crossed the harbor.
“I still can’t believe that neither of us has been to Nantucket,” Sawyer said as he docked the boat at the marina.
“I think that’s because we grew up here,” Sky said. “When I was growing up, my dad was running the store on the weekends and my brothers were in sports. There wasn’t much free time for us to go away for a whole afternoon.”
He tied off the boat and stepped onto the dock. He turned back and helped Sky out of the boat. “My dad is such a private person. He traveled for book signings, but he wasn’t really into exploring new places. When I was young, we spent afternoons on the beach, or at the cottage, but once they sold the cottage, we pretty much stuck close to home. And then I got into boxing, and nothing else mattered.”
He rolled an assessing gaze over the marina. “It looks like home.”
Sky wrapped her arms around his waist and said, “Only better. We have a whole day together before we need to return Pete’s boat.”
They walked along the marina hand in hand. Sky felt like she’d had new life breathed into her. The air felt lighter.Shefelt lighter. It wasn’t the sweet scent of flowers as they passed a little floral shop in the parking lot, or the summery dress she was wearing. It wasn’t the way the sun highlighted the happy glint in Sawyer’s eyes or the strength of his hand, holding hers. It was love. Pure, unadulterated love that had seeped inside her and made her feel rejuvenated. She couldn’t imagine being happier than she was right at that second.
“Hey,” Sawyer said, stopping in the middle of the street to gaze into her eyes. “I love you.”
She smiled and went up on her toes to kiss him. “I love you, too.”
