I look at him—really look at him—and something cracks open in my chest.
This man who could have been a multimillionaire but chose to live in a cabin he built himself and pour everything into his music and his community.
"You're incredible," I whisper. "You know that?"
He shakes his head. "I just did what was right."
"That's what makes you incredible." I move closer, cup his face in my hands, need him to understand what I'm seeing. "Most people wouldn't have. Most people would have taken the money. But you? You chose this place and its people. You chose to be better than him in every possible way."
His hands come up to cover mine, and his throat works as he swallows hard.
"If I'd taken that money, he would have won. Even dead, he would have controlled me. This way, at least some good came from all that evil."
I kiss him then, soft and deep, trying to pour everything I'm feeling into it.
When we break apart, his eyes are searching mine.
"What?" I ask.
He's quiet for a moment, just looking at me with an expression I can't quite read.
Then he says it.
"I love you."
The words land like a physical blow.
My breath catches. My chest tightens.
"Nate—"
"I needed you to hear me say it," he continues, and there's vulnerability in his voice that makes my eyes burn. "After everything, after last night, I needed you to know. I love you, Len. I always have."
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Because I know what I have to say next.
And saying it after he just told me he loves me—after seven years of not hearing those words from him—feels like the cruelest thing I could possibly do.
He kisses me again, slowly, like he's trying to hold onto this moment before something inevitable happens.
And when we break apart, I can see in his eyes that he knows.
He knows something's coming.
The pit in my stomach grows heavier. My throat goes tight.
"Nate, I have to go back to LA."
"For what?" he asks, though the answer is already forming in his tone.
"The film and what's left of my life there."
"Let me guess. Wes is threatening to pull the plug if you don't go back."
I nod.
Silence stretches between us, thick and heavy.
