“I don’t think so.”
“Then what is it?”
I dunked my hair into the sea. “This. You.” My face rose, and I cupped his cheeks. “All of it.”
As I was slipping in closer to kiss him again, he said, “I love you, Sophie.”
I froze. The three words caught me off guard. I had wanted to hear them. I certainly felt them. But the sound of his voice and the strength in his tone and the meaning of his statement and the way the moment wrapped around me—I was captured.
But it was even so much more than that.
“Colson …” My volume wasn’t higher than a whisper. “You do?”
“I do.”
“Please … I need to hear you say it once more.”
With his lips near mine, his breath hitting the wetness on my face, he exhaled, “I love you.”
And when I couldn’t hold it in a second longer, I replied, “I love you too.”
FORTY-ONE
COLSON
Me
Paul is picking Ellie and me up at 4:30 p.m., and then we’ll come get you and Abbi. Ellie is already in her princess costume. She won’t stop asking why she can’t wear ice skates like the princesses we’re going to see skate tonight, LOL.
Sophie
Awww, she’s the cutest. I can’t wait to see her outfit. Abbi’s in a costume too. The girls are going to look adorable together.
Tell me, why am I so nervous? I shouldn’t be, right?
Me
It’s a huge day for us, baby. It’s okay tobe nervous.
Sophie
Put me in front of the most difficult judge in the state, and I won’t even blink an eye. In fact, I’ll welcome the audience. Put me in front of my daughter, where I have to confess something I’ve been hiding from her … and I can’t breathe.
Me
That’s not the only place you like an audience.
Sophie
Colson!
Me
You do know the girls are going to be so fucking excited, don’t you?
Sophie
But what if they’re not?
