Page 89 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“I knew who you were as soon as I bumped into you in that diner. But I knew you weren’t ready. You looked so scared. And sad. It killed me.”

He was right, I wasn’t ready. I was still so mad at him. I needed time to understand what had happened to us. “You knew the whole time?”

“Didn’t you know who I was right away?”

I pulled back. “Yeah, but you weren’t wearing a disguise.”

“Your eye color and hair don’t define you. It’s this…” he moved his hand between our chests. “It’s an indefinable pull I have to you. It’s this feeling of…”

“Of home.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Of home. Of love.”

Of love. For ten years I had no love in my life. Just fleeting memories of what it was like to feel loved. My parents. My grandmother. Him. Knowing he had loved me this whole time made me want to cry for my childhood self. “Of love.”

He reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out my necklace. “Speaking of which, I believe this belongs to you.”

I pulled my hair up as he fastened it back around my neck.

His eyes locked with mine as his fingers trailed down the necklace, stopping at the Sagitta pendant. “Next to your heart. Where I belong. I still can’t believe that you kept this all these years.”

I shrugged. I didn’t want to ruin the moment and cry, but I felt the tears pricking the corners of my eyes. So I said the first thing that came to my mind that wasn’t sad. “This really cute boy gave it to me.”

He smiled his perfect smile. “There are so many things I’ve been dying to tell you.” His gaze dropped to my lips. “But I can’t seem to focus.” He leaned forward and buried his fingers in my hair. “I’m going to kiss you now. And I never plan on stopping.” He drew a fraction of an inch closer. “So if you don’t want this, you should tell me.”

I didn’t say a word. I had never wanted anything more.

“Tell me I’ve been dreaming all these years and that this isn’t real. Tell me I’m insane. Tell me I have to move on. Tell me what everyone has been telling me for years.”

I felt like he had just made me whole again. But those words shattered me. He had been as broken as me. And he had held on to the same hope that I had all these years. “Miles, I’ve loved you since the first moment I ever saw you. I remember it like it was yesterday. You were riding a bicycle without a helmet and it was the sexiest thing I had ever seen.”

He smiled.

“It’s true, though. You have been dreaming all these years. But that’s the thing…I’ve had the same dreams. And now we get to live them.”

A knock sounded on his door.

Neither one of us moved or said a word. This was the moment we had both been dreaming about. We didn’t want to ruin it.

“V!” Liza said from the other side of the door. “There’s something important we need to discuss.”

His eyes stayed locked on mine.

“V!” She pounded on the door again.

Miles sighed. He let go of my waist, leaned over, and grabbed a small cylinder off his nightstand. He pressed it against the side of his neck. “I’ll be there in a minute.” His voice rumbled.

It was weird seeing him like Miles yet hearing him like V.

“Just hurry!” she said. “And bring Summer too, it’s important.”

He pulled the cylinder away from his neck.

I could tell he didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to either. But if there was something to discuss that she deemed important, it probably was. And if I didn’t move right this second there was a pretty good chance I never would. I slowly pulled away from him.

He watched me as I climbed off the bed and looked around for something else to put on. “Your robe is probably still a little wet.”

“You can burn it. I never want to see it again.”

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