His eyes widened. "Wha-"
I kept going before he could interrupt. "You look at hockey and relationships like they're competing for the same space. They're not." The certainty in my own voice surprised me. "Hockey is what I do. You are not something getting in the way of that."
His breathing caught slightly. "You don't know that."
There it was again. The certainty that eventually he'd lose.
I brushed my knuckles against his cheek. "Kier, you keep talking about the future like it's already written."
His eyes closed briefly at the touch.
"You keep talking like one day I'm going to wake up and realize you're not worth keeping."
The pain that crossed his face was answer enough. God.
I let my hand settle against the side of his face. "Look at me."
Slowly, he did. I swallowed.
There was no point holding anything back anymore. Not after everything he'd told me and not after everything I'd realized. I'd spent days trying to find the right moment, the right words. The truth had been sitting in front of me for a while now.
"Kieran, I didn't spend Christmas with you because I felt sorry for you." I brushed my thumb lightly against his cheek. "And I sure as hell didn't come back here today because I thought you were convenient."
The tears in his eyes returned. But this time they looked different. Hopeful. Terrified. Waiting.
I smiled. "Baby, I'm here because I fell in love with you."
For a second, Kieran just stared at me. The tears were still there. But something else had replaced some of the fear. Disbelief. As if he wasn't quite sure he'd heard me correctly. My hand remained against his cheek. I didn't rush him.
"Kier?"
His throat worked. "You love me?"
He sounded as though the possibility that I might love him had never fully occurred to him. The thought made me sad.
"Yeah, baby."
His eyes closed briefly. When they opened again, they looked suspiciously bright. "You picked a hell of a time to tell me."
A laugh escaped me. "Believe me, this wasn't how I imagined the conversation going either."
That earned the smallest smile. Progress.
I brushed my thumb beneath one eye, catching a tear before it could fall. "I was going to do something a lot more romantic."
His mouth twitched. "Oh?"
"Definitely."
The smile grew a little. "Like what?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "I was hoping inspiration would strike."
An actual laugh escaped him. The sound did something dangerous to my heart. It made me want ten more years of hearing it. Twenty. Fifty.
The realization settled over me with startling clarity. I wasn't standing here trying to save a relationship. I was standing here looking at the man I wanted a future with. The man I wanted more Christmases with. More ordinary Tuesdays. More phone calls. More everything.
Kieran's smile faded as emotion caught up with him again. "You really mean it."
