Page 96 of Choosing a Forever
I hang my jacket in the closet and pad downstairs, my jaw dropping open when I get to the bottom.
Tal is standing in the middle of the room with a bouquet of white calla lilies and pale pink roses. The room is lit with fairy lights, all the furniture has been pushed to the sides, and a mattress with an array of pillows and blankets sits in the middle of the floor.
“Wh-what’s all this?”
Tal gives me a shy smile. “Date night. I haveA Walk to Rememberqueued up and your favorite snacks at the ready.”
I blink at him. “You did all of this?”
“Of course. Think of it as a belated one-month anniversary celebration.”
“But… why?”
He steps forward, setting the bouquet on one of the side tables before he stands right in front of me. “I know it’s not much, but I wanted to do something special foryou. To show you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me since I hurt my ankle and…” he trails off, takes a deep breath, then looks me in the eyes. “I want to make up for the years we lost because of me.”
My breath hitches. “You have nothing to make up for.”
He shakes his head. “I do, though, Mack. You can’t even listen to our song, and it’s my fault. I’m the one who ended things years ago and—”
“Tal, we werekids.I don’t blame you for not wanting to be serious with the first girl you thought you loved. We probably wouldn’t have worked out anyway, so you were just—”
“I neverthoughtI loved you. I did love you. Idolove you.”
My heart hammers against my rib cage. “Wh-what?”
Tal tentatively cups my face. “I only broke up with you because it’s what I thought was supposed to happen. The church and my parents made me think I was doing us both a favor, but I see now all I did was hurt us both. I’ve never,neverloved someone the way I love you, Mackenzie. I’ve never felt a pull so strong towards another person. Before you came back into my life, I felt like I was sitting on the sidelines waiting for something to happen, and that something wasyou.”
“I don’t understand. Our marriage—"
“Isn’t fake for me. I haven’t been totally honest with you, and for that I’m sorry. I wanted to marry you to help you out, yes, but I also wanted another chance for us, and I didn’t think you’d give me one, not after how we ended. I can give you more than just pleasure, Mack. If you let me, I’ll give you the whole world.”
My head is spinning from his confession, and I feel like I’m dreaming. For fourteen years, I’ve dreamed of him saying something similar. For fourteen years, I’ve been hoping he’d come back to me, but now that it’s actually happening, my mind can’t comprehend it.
It feels too good to be true.
“But you barely know me anymore,” I whisper. “I-I’m not the same girl I was at fourteen. I have baggage and trauma you don’t know about—things that could make you change your mind.”
“Hear me,believeme, when I say that there isnothingyou could tell me that would make me love you less. There’s nothing you could tell me that would scare me away or change my mind.”
I worry my bottom lip, the anxiety and stress of the last decade bubbling in my stomach and threatening to spill out of me. He just confessed hislovefor me, and I can’t even bask in my dream come true because hedoesn’t know.
“Hey, hey. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Tal swipes away a falling tear. “You don’t have to tell me now or at all if you don’t want to. But just know I’m here for you when—if—you’re ready.”
“I love you, too, you know,” I murmur, and his answering smile is luminous.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I kiss you now? Please?” His gaze drops down to my lips with the plea, and as soon as I nod my agreement, he’s pressing his lips to mine.
Our kisses at the restaurant and on our wedding day were for the benefit of other people—to sell the story of our love.
This kiss?
It’s purely for us.
Tal’s lips are sure and firm as they press against mine, and for the first time in years, I feel… happy.
