Page 257 of The Night Shift
“You’re unbearable,” she says.
“And you’re deflecting. Now say it.”
She exhales sharply, like it’s killing her from the inside to say it. Then, so quietly that I almost don’t catch it: “I love you.”
My chest pulls tight. The monitor next to us starts to beep faster.
Her eyes widen. “Are youfuckingserious, Theo? This is exactly why I didn’t want to say it. Are you going to have a cardiac episode every time I tell you I love you?”
“Oh my god,” I mutter, letting my head fall dramatically back against the pillow. “Please stop. I’m fainting.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
I crack one eye open, grinning. “But you still love me?”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, unfortunately, I do.” Her voice lifts, louder now, fierce and radiant. “I love you, and you almost died, and I hate that you made me admit this while you still have tubes in your arms because I can’t smack you as hard as I want to.”
I’m smiling so hard it physically hurts. “Do you feel better now?”
“No,” she snaps. “Now youknow. I feel worse.”
I pull her in closer. “You could’ve said that three years ago and saved us both a lot of time and arguing.”
“I thought you liked arguing with me.”
“Oh, Iadorearguing with you. Turns me on. Don’t ever stop.”
Rolling her eyes, she buries her face in my neck.
Seconds pass. Maybe minutes. We don’t say anything.
I hold her tight. Like my grip might convince the universe not to pry us apart ever again. I feel her smile against my skin, the smallest curl of her mouth, and my mind drifts back to the first time I saw her.
Her green dress. Her amber eyes. Her red lips. Her lethal smile that looked like it could destroy a man in one blow.
Only I was the idiot who wanted to be destroyed. It was almost chemical. Instinctual. I was fated to fall for her.
And never, not in any version of my life, could I have imagined this — her in my arms, telling me she loves me. Like I’m not some unhinged, obsessive bastard who would bleed himself dry for her over and over again. Everything is better with her. Everythinghasbeen better with her. And I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it that way.
“I love you too, you know,” I murmur into her hair, inhaling her scent. “For what it’s worth.”
She pulls back slightly, searching my face. “Yeah? I’m shocked.”
I cup her cheek, my thumb brushing over her skin, and I look deep into her eyes. “I’m serious, Holly. You will never be unloved by me. You are too well tangled in my soul. You will always have me.” This is a truth that has lived inside me for far too long to be anything but certain.
Her voice goes quiet. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It is.”
“I hope you know this doesn’t change anything. Just because you think I love you, doesn’t mean I’m going to start being nice to you all of a sudden. We still have to be extremely professional at work, you still have to let me drive your car whenever I want, and I will never ever eat anything you cook.”
I grin. Cupping her jaw, I pull her in and press a kiss to her lips. “You are so”— another kiss —“fucking”— kiss —“rude.”
She smiles against my mouth. It’s quiet and reluctant, but it’s there. “I thought men are more attracted to women who are rude to them.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Quoting my lines now, are we? I knew there was a part of you that was deeply obsessed with me.”
“Oh, please. You’re the one who’s obsessed withme.”
