“Eliza, what are you doing here?”
His voice. It feltso goodto hear his voice.
I took a few steps forward but left space between us, unsure how this would go.
“I had to find you,” I said. “I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer your phone. Your car is in the garage so I figured you hadn’t left yet, but…I needed to see you.”
I couldn’t read him, but I knew him well enough to notice the defeat in his eyes, which caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected him to forgive me immediately, but I thought he’d be happier to see me. Even if this didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to, I had to tell him.
“You were right when you said I was scared,” I blurted. “I didn’t want to admit it or admit how well you knew me. But what terrified me most wasn’t getting my heart broken—it was losing you. And I thought that if I pushed you away—if I lost you before I fully had you—that it’d be easier. That I’d be ableto go through life the same way I had before you. Except I quickly realized that was impossible. There’s no going back, Leo.”
The muscle in his jaw fluttered, and his stormy gaze zeroed in on me.
“And I don’t want to go back. I never want to experience a life without you. I want to give this a real shot. You and me.”
Leo ran his hands over his face, tipping his head back at the sky. The thick column of his throat bobbed. The rain picked up intensity, heavy drops hitting us both.
When he didn’t say anything, I added, “If that’s what you still want.”
Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe he realized this wasn’t what he wanted.
“Of course, that’s what I still want,” he said, voice so low I barely heard him.
The relief didn’t hit me yet, and for good reason.
“But—” he said, shaking his head.
My stomach dropped, and I took a few steps toward him. “But what?” There was something he wasn’t telling me, and when he opened his eyes and met mine again. I didn’t see regret or anything indicating he didn’t want this…I saw pain. So much pain.
“Eliza, he hurt you to get to me. He hurt youbecauseof me. How can you even look at me right now?”
“Leo,” I whispered, my heart nearly breaking right then and there. I closed the final distance between us, reaching up and cupping the sides of his face, forcing him to look at me. “You better not be blaming yourself for that and what he did.”
His nostrils flared, and his jaw was clenched tight. Everything about his body was tight with tension. “Eliza?—”
“No,” I cut him off. “No, I’m not letting you blame yourself for something your brother did. That’s on him. Yes, he hurt me,but he hurt you, too. And that’s something we’ll deal with and move on from. Together.”
While his body was still taut, his shoulders eased a fraction. “I didn’t know.”
“I know,” I said with a slight laugh. “I know you didn’t because I knowyou. Pretty well, too. I know you would do anything for the people in your life, even if they don’t always deserve it. I know that you always put others first, even if you should be selfish every once in a while. And I know that you held back your feelings for me because you never wanted me to feel pressured to make a certain choice or decision.”
Leo moved his hands that were wrapped tightly around the edge of the brick to my hips, his fingers sliding underneath my tank top and digging into my skin.
“I also know,” I said, leaning into him, “that I’ve never felt this way about someone. I never thought I wanted this. Until you. I don’t want to do life alone. I want to do it with you. I want to experience all the things life has to offer withyouby my side. And I know it’s going to be messy and hard and emotional and painful. But at least with you, it’ll also be beautiful, wild, passionate, and so full of love.”
It was like with each word, another ounce of tension escaped him. His hand moved up my spine, all the way up to rest at the back of my neck.
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “God, Eliza, I lo?—”
With a grin on my face, I beat him to it. “I love you. I love you with my whole heart, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that I want you. That I’ll always want you.”
“Couldn’t let me say it first, could you?”
I shook my head, the smile firmly planted on my lips.
He leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine. “I love you, too. I love you so damn much that I didn’t know what to do with myself when we were apart.”
“Luckily,” I murmured, “you don’t have to figure that out. You’re stuck with me now.”
