Page 80 of Make Your Shot
Releasing my arms from her waist, I keep my eyes locked on hers as I rise to my full height. Mia’s head is already tilted back, her eyes staring directly into my soul. She lifts her hands, moving to cup the sides of myface. I let out a sigh, pressing my cheek deeper against her palm.
“I’m sorry for pushing you away.”
She tilts her head to the side. “I’m sorry for letting you. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“I can’t promise this will be easy and I can’t promise I won’t try to push you away again. I promise I will try not to or I will come to you when I start to feel scared.”
“I promise I won’t let you succeed.” She pauses, her eyes growing damp. “I love you, Caleb,” she says, her eyes shining back at mine through her tears. “I never have and I never will expect you to love me more than you loved Amelia. I don’t want to replace her and I don’t want you to ever forget about her. I just want you, broken, whole, however you are. Ijust loveyou.”
“With you is the most whole I’ve felt in a really long time,” I say as I slide my hands around the back of her neck. “I want to be the man who deserves to be loved by you.”
“My love,” she says softly, a smile dancing across her lips. “You are. You deserve all the good that the world has to offer.”
“You are the good, pup.” The corners of my mouth twitch. “You’re the joy I’ve been missing in my life.” My face dips down to hers. “I want you to be mine, Mia."
A soft laugh falls from her lips as she drags my face down to hers, her lips brushing against mine. “I already am, silly.”
“I mean officially.”
“Are you asking me to go steady, Ford?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.” My lips sweepacross hers, in a teasing, gentle kiss. “This is me giving you my heart, Mia. All I’m asking for in exchange is yours.”
She stares up at me with nothing but unyielding love.
“It’s already yours.”
EPILOGUE
CALEB
My brother stares at Andi, spinning her away from him with her white dress drifting around her ankles before he tugs her back toward his body. She wraps her bare arm around the tops of his shoulders, her head tilting back as a string of laughter falls from her lips.
I slide my hand onto Mia’s lap, her fingers immediately threading through mine as our eyes meet. The corners of her pink lips lift into the softest smile, her brown irises shimmering beneath the lights above.
“They look so happy,” she says as her gaze drifts back out to the dance floor in the center of the barn. A soft breeze drifts through the massive wall of windows that were propped open to let in the cool night air.
Last summer, Andi and Carson came to Sugar Hill Hollow with us and when they saw Willow’s family’s farm, they fell in love with it and immediately booked it as the venue for their wedding. They decided on an early summer wedding this year, so they could have itjust after the hockey season, but before it was too hot to have one where we could enjoy the cooler evening air.
My eyes trail over the side of Mia’s face, pausing on her highlighted cheek bones. “They’re not the only ones.”
The song comes to an end, switching to something a little more upbeat as people from the reception begin to crowd onto the dance floor. Carson pulls Andi to his side, the two of them swaying together as Rowan and Hadley walk over to them.
I glance over to the table next to us where my mother and aunt sit, entertaining all the kids. Tella looks over at me, a bright smile on her face as she waves. Matteo says something to her and she cuts her eyes, her lips moving as she responds to him. Everything just feels exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
“Dance with me?” I ask as I rise to my feet, holding onto her hand.
“I’d love to,” she smiles, standing up with her. Her champagne colored dress falls just beneath her knees and it shifts around her legs as she walks on her heels, letting me lead her onto the dance floor.
Ignoring the beat of the music, I pull her flush against me and she presses her cheek to the side of my chest. “I love you, Mia,” I murmur, grazing my lips up the side of her neck. “I can’t wait until our wedding.”
She laughs as she pulls away from me. She’s still in my arms, leaning back against them, and shakes her head at me. “I think you’re skipping a step.”
The box I’ve been carrying around in my pocket for the last two weeks feels like it’s burning a hole throughmy pants. Something has been holding me back from doing it, but it’s not her. God, it could never be her.
It’s me. It’s me wanting to do it right. To have it be the perfect moment.
“Can I steal your date?” Andi asks as she slides her hand around my arm. Nova, Riley, and Hadley all linger around her, as if they’re about to swarm Mia.
