Page 131 of The Matchmaker
Callum looks shocked. “You think I’ll get bored of you?”
“Maybe not ofme,” I say. “But of this life, yeah. It’s not for everyone. And you said you wanted to travel, start your business. That you wanted to find something more. You’re not going to find that here. This is it. Believe me.”
“Katie—”
“And I mean, sure, it’s all fun and games now,” I say, starting to babble. “There’s a lot to do with the festival and it’s sunny and nice and the lavender is out. But it gets cold in the winter. It gets cold and it rains, and there’s nothing to do and nothing ever really changes. And I’m okay with that. I like that because I like it here. And yet, for my entire adult life, people have looked at me like I’m the wrong one for feeling like that. Like I’m some poor, confused child who doesn’t know any better. You asked me yourself why I never left, and I get it, I do, and you…you might need more than this. So eventually, yeah. You’ll get bored. You’ll leave.”
Callum doesn’t say anything for a long moment, his expression unreadable in the darkness, and then, seriously, so seriously he almost sounds mad, he asks, “When have I ever suggested you leave this place? When have I ever suggested you need to change your life? That you need to go somewhere new and be someone new?”
“You—”
“Never,” he interrupts. “I’ve never wanted you to be anything more than who you are. Katie, I am inaweof you. I’ve spent my life trying to figure out what made me happy, what I wanted to do with my days if I was brave enough to try. I never found it. Not until I came here. I came here, and there you were, putting everything on the line because you knew what you had and refused to let it go.” He pushes himself up with one arm so he can look down at me. “I thought you were just being stubborn, but I get it now. I told you already that I made my choice, and my choice is you. What part of that didn’t you understand?”
“It’s only been a few months,” I say weakly.
“So?” he retorts. “You think I don’t know my own heart? You think I don’t know when I’ve found a good thing? How can I get bored of this place if it’s where you are? How can I get tired of it when all you need to do is stand there breathing and you have my full attention? Katie, for the first time in my life, I feel like I’ve found a place I can call home. And I’m not saying I know what’s going to happen. No one does. And if you don’t want me to stick around because you don’t see a future with me, because you never intended for this to get serious, then I’ll respect that, of course I will. But if you don’t want me because you’re scared of something bigger? Because you can’t handle the fact that I’m falling in love with you? Then that’s a whole different conversation we need to have. And if you think I’m going to just let you run away from that, then you don’t know me at all.”
He falls back down to the grass, scowling at the sky. “You told me once that Kelly’s was your favorite place in the world. Well, you’re mine. You’re mine and I’ll go where you go. For as long as you want me to, I’ll be right there with you.”
I watch him for a moment, a little speechless but unable to ignore the one very important thing he just told me. “You’re falling in love with me?”
“Understatement of the century,” he mutters, rubbing his face like he wants to wake himself up.
“Since when?”
“I don’t know. Forever?” He sounds pissed off and he must realize it because he takes an audible breath, forcing himself to calm. “Or maybe from the moment you stomped across the construction site in your pajamas and jabbed a finger in my brother’s face. You think the guys were happy with me rerouting our entire traffic route? I wanted an excuse to see you again. Wanted you to think I was a good guy. I couldn’t get you out of my head and I didn’t want to. I still don’t want to.”
A particularly loud firework explodes above us, but I keep my attention on him, watching his eyes trace the bursts of light.
“So maybe I’m not falling in love with you,” he murmurs. “Maybe I’m already there.” He tilts his head to face me and we’re so close now I can feel his breath on my lips. “I’m in love with you, Katie Collins. And I’ll choose you every time.”
We stay like that, watching each other until his expression softens into one of faint amusement.
“Not that you have to say it back, but—”
“Crap. Sorry. No, I do. I love you too.”
He laughs as my face heats in embarrassment.
“Sorry,” I repeat. “It’s because I was listening to your big proclamation.”
“Is that what that was?”
I nod. “About how you’re so devoted to me.”
He smirks but doesn’t deny it as I close the space between us and press my lips to his.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I love you, I love you, I love you. And I want you here. I want you with me.”
“Well, that’s good,” he murmurs. “Makes my life a lot easier.”
He kisses me until a faint cheer rises from the field, and I break away at the sound, looking behind us as gold ribbons spiral upward.
“You want to go back?” he asks, starting to sit up, but I shake my head. “You sure? It’s your moment of glory.”
“I’m good.”
He lies back down, and I nestle into him, resting my head on his chest as he wraps an arm around me. His body is completely relaxed beneath mine, but I can feel his heart thumping in a way that belies his outer calmness, the beat perfectly matched with the frantic pounding of my own.
