Page 668 of One More Kiss

Chapter8

The perfect combination of pepperoni,cheese, and the rich homemade marina sauce hits me as soon as Hannah walks through the door.

Just as I’m about to open my mouth to yell at her to get in here faster, I freeze. She visited me almost every day in the hospital, I’ve seen countless photos of her, so I know I didn’t imagine her long blonde hair.

Hair that once fell in the place of the fuzzy buzz cut that matches my own.

“Oh, will you stop gawking at my head?” She laughs lightly, following the trail of my eyes, shrugging, and pointing to my own head. “I hear buzz cuts are in these days. I couldn’t let you be the only trendy one.”

For the first time in weeks, the tears streaming down my face aren’t out of frustration or hopelessness.For all intents and purposes, Hannah is still very much a stranger to me. We didn’t meet until college, one of the moments in time I don’t remember. Much like Milo though, she has endless stories to pull from which make me feel closer to her.

“I can’t believe you let her shave her head,” I say to Derek.

“Let’s get one thing straight, sister.” Hannah laughs. “Derek doesn’t let me do anything.”

I join in their laughter, but there’s a twist in my stomach when I realize I may never remember them. Milo notices it, immediately, and makes an excuse about just needing to talk to me before they go. Taking his verbal cue, everyone except for Endora, the sweet chocolate lab that hasn’t left my side since I came home, leaves the room.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, dropping down to my level. Before I can brush it off, he shakes his head. “Please don’t say it’s nothing just so I’ll let this go and leave. I promise I’ll go out, but I need to know you’re okay before I do.”

His eyes are filled with worry as he caresses my hand with the pad of his thumb.

“What if I don’t ever remember?” I whisper. I can feel the buildup of hopeless frustration bubbling over me. “What if I don’t get it back, Milo? What if I never remember you, Endora, Hannah, or what I learned in college? I can’t exactly go back to work right now. I can’t even fucking walk.”

“Oh, baby.” His voice cracks as he leans forward and wipes a tear with his free hand. “Then we make new memories. Then you and I start now. I love you. I need you to know that. Even if you don’t remember how it started, you will always have me. I will always be yours.”

“I don’t deserve this,” I tell him. “I don’t deserve you and everything you’ve done for me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he says. “You are the most selfless, loving person I know. Why do you think Endora won’t leave your side? Because you’re her person. That hasn’t changed. I can’t pretend to know what’s going on in your head and how scary this must be, but I’m in this with you for as long as you’ll let me be.”

I can’t seem to find the right words to use to thank him, so instead, I press my lips to his. There have been a lot of forehead kisses since I woke up, but Milo has respected my space by stopping there. I knew it would be up to me and I couldn’t think of a better moment than now.

For a moment, Milo stills, but his body relaxes when he presses back gently, tipping his forehead to mine. Our lips linger in place like neither one of us want to break the kiss. The thud of my racing heart and hitched breath shouldn’t give me strength, but without thought, I reach for Milo’s chest, and begin to push myself up.

“Loch,” he starts, his eyes opening wide. “Let me get Jenny.”

“No.” I shake my head, grabbing him tighter. “No, please. Just you and me.”

My legs are shaking, but I know it’s now or never. I push forward, taking the smallest step toward Milo. One step turns into two, two turns into three… All along, all I needed was him. I just needed to know he would be there to catch me if I fell.

“Baby, you did it!” he exclaims, covering his mouth when he realizes he yelled it. “You did it!!!”

“Hey, Milo,” I pause, looking up into the eyes of the man I love. “I love you more than tacos.”

With my words, he freezes. “Wait. Did you just say? Lochlyn?”

Saying that phrase, our phrase, words I haven’t said since before the car accident feels even better than walking.

Nodding, I pull in my quivering lip. Tears stream down his face as he peppers mine with kisses. “You remember.”

Milo’s excitement must have caught Jenny’s attention because she runs into the room, Hannah and Derek trailing right behind her. When they see me standing, Hannah gasps.

“Well, look at you.” She beams. “I knew you could do it!”

“I need to call your mom! She’ll be so mad if she finds out we didn’t call her right away.” Jenny chuckles.

“You should probably tell her I have my memory back too.” I shrug, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, but the ear-to-ear grin gives me away.

“You know.” Milo leans in. “You could have just told me you didn’t want me to go out tonight.”

“Oh, you’re going out,” I tell him, pressing my lips to his cheek. “Because it’ll be the last time for a while. I do believe I was promised MVP sex. You owe me, buddy.”

For the first time since we got back to the house, Milo lets out a full belly laugh and there’s a familiar flutter in my stomach.

“Glad to have you back, babe,” he says when his laughter settles.

When I look around the room, my heart is full of gratitude. For these people, for everything they sacrificed over the last few weeks for me.

But mostly for Milo and having his love—a love that is so much more than a memory.

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