Page 141
I say nothing, as we reach a recent slide. West standing in front of the resort right as ground was being broken. Smiling. His eyes crinkling.
And here’s the West I fell for. The West I know. The darkness and the light, all in one man.
He exhales, like the weight of a lifetime has been pulled out of him. Then he clicks the button one last time.
The image flickers onto the cliff. Not the resort. Not a scandal. Not Leona.
It’s us.
Me on his lap in the kitchen at the North House, laughing so hard. My head is tipped back, my curls wild around my face. His arms are around my waist, his chin tucked into my shoulder, his eyes locked on me. The world goes on around us, but in that frozen moment it’s only us.
He must have taken it with his phone without me realizing. A snapshot that he wanted to keep.
“That man there,” West says quietly. “That’s who I am when I’m with you. That’s the man I want to be for the rest of my life.”
My throat tightens. A hot tear slides down my cheek before I can stop it, damn it. He sees it, and his own face crumples.
“Don’t cry,” he whispers, his voice breaking. “God, Eden, I never wanted to make you cry. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. The only thing that’s ever been real. And I know I’ve hidden behind a thousand masks, but with you, I don’t want any of them. With you, I want to be this man.” He gestures at the cliff, at us together. “Yours.”
I stare at him, at the man who adores me and completes me, who’s broken me and held me together in the same breath.
And I realize I’m not afraid anymore.
Because I love him. Entirely.
“Then stop running,” I whisper back. My voice is steady. “Stop hiding. Be him. You. The man who isn’t afraid of showing me the real him. The one that makes me proud because he always fights for what he loves. Even when it hurts.”
He closes the distance between us in two long strides, and when his lips crash against mine it feels like the whole world exhales.
I fling my arms around his neck, kissing him back so hard my lips feel bruised. His mouth tastes of sea salt and champagne. And as he lifts me up, against him, I can feel how hard he is. In every way.
“Eden.”
His voice vibrates against my skin, rough and tender all at once. And then a cold drop hits my cheek. Another splashes against my neck. For a moment I think he’s crying, but within seconds, rain pours down around us, soaking our hair, plastering my shirt to my skin.
West curses softly against my mouth, then laughs.
“Oh no, the projector,” I say, because it’s already getting wet.
“Leave it,” West whispers against my lips. He pulls me closer in his arms and spins us around as he kisses me again.
And I’ve never felt more happy.
“You’re soaking,” he tells me, pulling me under the ledge even though I’m not sure I could get anymore wet.
“I know.”
“And you’ve never looked more beautiful.” His voice is thick. Completely serious. “God, I love you so much.”
The way he says it, with the truth echoing every word, makes me shiver. “I love you too,” I tell him. “Every part of you.” Because he needs to know that. He needs to know that he can stop hiding. He can stop thinking I’ll hate the darkness. Because I don’t, it’s part of him.
And then his mouth is on mine again, hungrier this time, like the storm has broken both of us open and there’s no way back. My fingers fist his shirt, tugging him down, needing him closer, needing him everywhere. He lifts me off my feet, pressing me against the rock wall, the hard planes of his body grounding me, claiming me.
The storm drowns out everything but him, but I don’t care. His mouth is everywhere, tasting me like he’s been starved, and I cling to him, my nails dragging against his neck, letting him know just how hungry I am for him, too.
He slides down to the ground, pulling me with him, until I’m straddling him. And the way he’s smiling at me feels like the sun has come out even though it’s storming all around us.
Before I can kiss him again, his phone rumbles in his pocket. He reluctantly pulls it out reads the message, shaking his head.
