Page 59 of Loving Josy
“Okay,” I begin, taking a deep breath. “So I’ve been thinking a lot about this.”
“You’re scaring me, sweetheart,” Noah says, his nervous smile not quite reaching his eyes.
“There’s something I need to confess.”
“Okay.” His voice steady, though his gaze sharpens with curiosity.
“You asked me a long time ago why I ghosted you all those years ago.”
“Yes, I remember. You already told me.”
“I told you half of the truth,” I admit, my throat tightening.
“What’s the other half I don’t know?”
I look down at my hands, bracing myself. “That day at the Tavern, I decided I was going to kiss you. I didn’t have the words to tell you I was madly in love with you. So I thought if I just went there and kissed you, you’d get the hint. We’d been talking on the phone for so long, and you were always flirting so I thought you felt the same.”
Noah’s eyes widen, a flicker of realization crossing his face. “Oh, I get it now?—”
I press my finger to his lips, silencing him. “Let me finish.”
He nods, his lips brushing against my finger as I pull it away.
“So when I got to the Tavern,” I continue, my voice trembling, “I saw you there with that girl. She was gorgeous, Iremember everything about her. She was the opposite of me in every way. And you were all over her. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. Then you said I was your friend, that you saw me like a sister, and it broke me.”
My voice wavers, the tears I’ve been holding back threatening to spill. “Imagine me standing there, watching the love of my life kissing and touching someone else. I just couldn’t handle it. I left and told myself I didn’t want to see you ever again.”
The tears come now, unstoppable. I swipe at them furiously, but Noah leans forward, his large, calloused hands gently wiping them away. His touch is tender, his expression raw.
When I finally meet his gaze, I see the tears in his eyes too. “Sweetheart,” he whispers, his voice cracking, “you don’t know how sorry I am.”
“I know,” I say softly, my chest heaving with the weight of my confession. “It wasn’t your fault. You never made any promises to me. It was all in my head. But I need you to know that I’ve always been in love with you. Since ninth grade, when I saw you in the hallway walking with Austin and Esteban. It’s always been you. Even when you dated my friends and I was dying of jealousy, it was you.”
“Oh, baby,” Noah murmurs. In one swift motion, he pulls me onto his lap, cradling me like something precious. He brushes my curls back, tucking them behind my ear, his fingers lingering against my skin.
“Josselyn, I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?” This is extremely serious; he just said my full name, something that never happens. No one calls me Josselyn, but I nod, wiping at his tears even as he brushes away mine.
“It’s only ever been you for me too,” he says, his voice firm and full of conviction. “I flirted with you and talked to you every day because I knew early on you were it for me. But I thoughtyou didn’t see me the same way. You were this gorgeous, perfect girl, and I didn’t think I had a chance.”
My breath catches at his words, my heart squeezing painfully.
“So, I slept around,” he continues, his voice tinged with regret. “Always with women who were the opposite of you. I know it’s not an excuse, but it’s my truth. When you ghosted me, I thought it was a sign I needed to let you go. I tried so hard to talk to you, but you shut me out completely. If I could go back, I would. If that night you’d given me that kiss, I would’ve died on the spot. You don’t know how many times I imagined it.”
He takes a shaky breath, his hands gripping my waist as if grounding himself. “I spent the next ten years regretting not telling you how I felt. When I got near you again last year, I decided enough was enough. I wanted you, and I wasn’t going to let you ignore me anymore. So I came up with the plan to annoy you because that was the only way to make you talk to me. And it worked.”
I let out a soft laugh through my tears, wrapping my arms around his neck. “It did. You’re impossible to ignore.”
Noah smiles, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’ll never let you go again, sweetheart. Not now. Not ever.”
He smiles, his forehead still pressed to mine, and I feel his breath against my lips. The moment feels fragile, yet so powerful that it seems like the world has narrowed down to just the two of us. He shifts slightly, his hand gently cupping my cheek, his thumb brushing away the remnants of my tears.
Leaning in, his lips a whisper away from mine. “I love you, Josselyn,” he says softly, his voice filled with unshakable certainty. “I’ve always loved you, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and our Everly.”
Before I can respond, his lips claim mine in a kiss so intense it steals my breath. It’s not just a kiss—it’s everything. It’s apromise, a declaration, a culmination of years of longing and unspoken words.
My world tilts on its axis as if everything I thought I knew has shifted, leaving me floating in a happiness I never imagined possible. I lose myself in the moment, in him. His arms wrap around me, holding me close, and my hands find their way into his hair, tugging him impossibly closer.
We kiss like we’re starving, like we’ve been waiting a lifetime for this. His lips move against mine, tender yet demanding, pouring everything he feels into this single act. And I meet him with the same intensity, the same hunger, the same need.
