Page 185 of Paint the Town, Dove
Ryden
Her biggest fear was being noticed, stemming from her innate craving to be adored.
I promised myself long ago that I’d give her the world.
I made well on my promise.
“Come out on stage for me, Dove!” I called, sweat dripping off my brow, Jaw & Lion behind me, cheering her on. “Come stand by my side!”
And slowly, tentatively, she stepped out onto the stage. One foot after another, the blinding strobe lights illuminated the sparkle in her brown eyes, the fire slowly dissipating, the warmth taking its place.
I could fucking cry. I could fucking cry seeing her.
The growth. The journey. The change.
An epic moment, for an epic ending.
Or maybe, this was just the beginning.
“Everybody give it up for Scarlett Emory-Blake!”I yelled into the mic, the crowd’s screams so deafening yet so… quiet.
So quiet, when I was with her.
“I told you I would give you the world…” I whispered, letting the mic fall from my hands so I could hold her face. “We don’t need to hide it anymore. We don’t need to pretend.”
She swallowed, a solemn tear dripping down her cheek.
We were alone in front of the whole damn world.
“You were the life I was waiting for, too.” Her voice shook as she repeated the words I told her when we were kids.
I could barely hold in my own fucking sobs. “I wished on every star you could see yourself the way I’ve always seen you. Strong, fierce,mine. I knew one day, Dove. I knew one day, we’d take flight.”
Ryden! Scarlett!
Ryden! Scarlett!
Tentatively, her palm slid over mine, a crystalline tear dripping down her cheek. “I… love you,” she whispered, so softly, so small.
A woman still learning to define love. A man determined to show her how.
Scarlett! Ryden!
Scarlett! Ryden!
I kissed her softly, the memories of almost two decades flashing in my mind like a carousel – round and round they took me, until finally slowing to destiny’s halt.
“I’ve loved you through every color,” I whispered, the pieces of our past evaporating to the open sky. “Black and blue, Violet and Scarlett…”
Her tears fell onto my lips. “My Eagle.”
I kissed the last of her pain. “My Dove.”
