Page 53 of Unmasking Secrets
I let out a breath and step closer. “He’s not you.”
“Tab,” his voice comes out growly, like a warning.
“Nobody will ever be you.” I take a step closer. “Honesty, remember. We’re supposed to be honest with each other.” I swallow. This is it. “You want mine? Nobody will be. Want to know why?” I hesitate and wait for him to face me. “You weren’t just my best friend growing up, Archie Stryker. You were my first love, even if I never told you.”
“Don’t.” His hands squeeze the armrests of his chair. “You deserve to be happy. I’m not the guy who can give you that.”
“Do you remember when were at the clubhouse playing darts? During that stupid game of truth or dare. You dared me to find my happy. Well, here’s the honesty: I will never be as happy without you in my life. You can run and push me away, but know I want you. You’re my happy, Arch.”
His hand rubs over his face in frustration.
Come on, Archie? Don’t you see it yet?
“I have nothing to give you.” He closes his eyes.
“Stop being an idiot!” I break. This is my moment. This will either bring him to me or push him away. “You’re right, I could be happy with someone else. I can find a version of happy out there. But it will never be enough; it will never compare to you.”
“I’m sorry, Tab.” He shakes his head.
“Wow, me too, Arch.” I take a step forward. “From this moment forward, I won’t live my life with regrets. This moment is on you. I choose you, but you want to push me away.”
“But your date—” His eyes narrow on me.
“No,” I interrupt him. “It was never a date. Not a real one. I told him at the start of the dinner that there was nothing there.”
“What?” His hands fist on the armrests of the chair. “But you were both smiling and laughing.” He shakes his head in disbelief.
“I gave my heart away a long time ago, Archie Stryker.” I take another step toward him.”
His feet shuffle slightly, and I wonder if he’ll step up and make the move.
“Friends don’t keep secrets.” I take another step toward him. “It’s always been you.”
I move to take another step, and he’s up at the same time.
Everything freezes. For one moment, time simply stops. It’s been bubbling under the surface for so long, my heart feels like it’s about to beat out of my chest. I know when it detonates, it will be nuclear. There is no other acceptable reaction, not after how long this has been simmering. And I know if I don’t do something, my world will cease to exist.
If I don’t do something now, I might as well be sucked into a black hole.
I launch myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. His arms embrace me, and for a few seconds we lock eyes. Freezing this moment in time, placing this memory on a pedestal where it deserves.
This isn’t just life-changing; it’s universe alternating. Archie isn’t just the boy I fell in love with when I was little. He’s the man I can’t live without. The soul mine will search for in every lifetime.
My hands move slowly into his hair, tugging him closer until our foreheads are resting on each other.
“Don’t leave me.” I whisper like a prayer before crashing my lips to his.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ARCHIE
Her lips feel like heaven pressed to mine. Is this what I’ve been missing this whole time? I truly am the world’s greatest idiot.
I pull back and search her eyes. “Are we really doing this? No more fighting it?”
She nods. “You deserve me, and I deserve you.”
I hold her tighter, because I know I’ll never be able to let her go now. Not when I know what her lips taste like. Not when I know what her curves feel like when I can truly hold on to them. And this is only the beginning.
