AllFreeNovel
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I grip the front of his sweater in my hand, squeezing until I feel the hard warmth of his body beneath. “You want to hear something really crazy?”
“Yeah.”
“I just want to be where you are–with you. That’s my dream right now. That’s the thing I care about. These past few weeks have been some of the most incredible weeks of my entire life, and I don’t want it to end. I don’t want us to end.”
“Then we won’t,” he says with a certainty and finality that makes me feel gooey and warm inside.
“Promise?” I ask.
“I promise to care about you way more than sanity should allow–to keep falling for you faster than should be humanly possible, and to enjoy the shit out of pampering you next time you roll your ankle, get a headache, have a bad period, or wake up too cold in the morning.”
I rest my cheek on his chest, smiling. “That sounds amazing.”
The song ends and the next track is All I Want For Christmas is You.
We just shift around a little while longer–him doing the work on his skates and me letting my sneakers glide as I drift across the ice, following the rhythm of his movement. I’m enjoying the sensation of his body against mine and knowing the invisible detonation timer I’ve felt hanging over our heads for weeks now just stopped counting down to doomsday.
“Andi?” he says.
“Yeah?”
“You really don’t want to go to New York for that job? You can tell me if you do. I’ll find a way to make it work.”
“I really don’t. Some people would call it a dream job, but the only dream I care about right now is the one I’ve been living in the last few weeks, and if this is dreaming, I don’t want to wake up.”
We kiss and the fireworks continue to splash and pop overhead, bathing the night in bright colors. The music keeps playing and this place that might be my new home feels alive all around me. I slip my arms around Jesse, pulling my body into his warmth and closing my eyes. I’m smiling, because I don’t know what is ahead of us. All I know is we’re both taking the plunge together.
Being with Jesse feels like the start of a new chapter to the adventure. A new, exciting chapter that I desperately hope will end with a happily ever after.
He looks down at me and I can tell he wants to say something.
“What is it?” I ask.
He hesitates, then shakes his head. “It’s crazy. I’m not going to say it or I’ll scare you off.”
“You couldn’t scare me off, Jesse Prince. Say it.”
The grand finale of the fireworks show is in full swing. Booms sound from farther off in the harbor and the crack and sparkle of pyrotechnics is almost constant. Multi-colored lights flicker across his perfect face as he stares back at me.
“I love you.” He says the words, then lowers his eyes and shakes his head, as if he’s expecting me to laugh at him.
I grip his sweater with both hands, waiting for him to meet my eyes. When he does, I’m smiling. “Say it again,” I demand.
His smile comes slowly. “I love you?”
I kiss him so fiercely it hurts, but I don’t care.
“There’s something I need to do,” he says, face flushed red after our kiss.
“What?” I ask.
“Wait here.”
He goes up to the stage, thumps over to the mic in his bulky skates, and grabs the microphone again. “Andi Summers is my girlfriend and I love her. That’s all.” He gives me a look that’s almost giddy, drops the microphone, and climbs down as there’s confused clapping and a few whoops from his teammates, who are scattered around the harbor.
I watch him skate back toward me. If I didn’t already know I love him, too, I’d know it in my bones now. That smile of his and the way he runs his hand through his hair as he reaches me, grinning like a kid who just pulled the fire alarm at school in all his charming glory. “Sorry,” he said. “I wanted you to know I’m not holding back with you. I’m all in, Andi.”
“Good,” I say. “Because I don’t care if it’s crazy, either. I love you too. And tonight has been perfect. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”
