Page 188 of Stranger to Love

I didn't laugh. I leaned down, pressing my forehead firmly against hers, my own breathing completely shallow.

"If you've lost your cool, Alex, then I’ve lost my entire foundation," I confessed, the admission tearing from my throat with a raw honesty that terrified and exhilarated me. "You didn't just make me smile. You woke me up. And if the universe really did put me in that street at two in the morning just so I could find you... then it's the only thing the universe has ever gotten right."

I slid my hand into her hair, caressing her temple, completely surrendered to her. "Don't apologise for being 'soppy.' I want all of it. I want every unfiltered thought in that beautiful head of yours."

I kissed her again, deep and unhurried, tasting the absolute certainty of our future.

"I love you," she whispered against my lips. Then, a sharp, mischievous glint returned to her eyes. "So... since we’re being all honest and romantic... when exactly do I get that puppy?"

The profound, soulful atmosphere completely shattered. I let out a long, agonised groan, dropping my forehead onto her shoulder with a dull thud.

"I hoped you would have forgotten about that," I mumbled into her skin, thoroughly defeated. "I really did. I thought perhaps the 'forever' talk would have distracted you from the four-legged menace."

Alex burst into a loud, triumphant laugh, her chest heaving beneath me. "Not a chance, Dr. Carter. A deal is a deal. You said yes."

I propped myself up on my elbows, attempting to summon my most intimidating lecture-hall glare, though the twitch at the corner of my mouth completely betrayed me. "I said 'fine,' Alex. 'Fine' is a very reluctant concession, not an enthusiastic endorsement. And I believe I also mentioned the garage. Are you prepared to live in the garage with a Golden Retriever that smells like wet wool?"

"You'd miss me too much," she smirked, looping her arms securely around my neck. "Besides, think of the 'atmosphere.' A big, sleepy dog at our feet—downstairs, obviously—while we're curled up on the sofa? It’s the final piece of the puzzle."

I let out a soft sigh, accepting my total, inevitable ruin at the hands of this girl. I leaned down, nipping her bottom lip just hard enough to make her gasp.

"You are going to ruin my life, Alex. My furniture, my schedule, and my reputation as a cold, heartless academic... all gone because of you."

"Best ruin ever," she murmured.

"Yes," I whispered, my heart swelling as I looked down at my beautiful, chaotic future. "Quite possibly. We’ll look at the shelters after your finals are over. Not a day sooner."

Chapter 40

Alex

I couldn't believe this was it.

The library was quiet, but the air around my desk felt heavy with the weight of the last ten months. I was staring at the screen, the cursor hovering over the blue 'Submit' button for my International Business coursework. This was the final one. The end of the road for Year One.

My finger trembled slightly over the trackpad.

I thought about where I had been a year prior. I thought about the bone-deep exhaustion of double shifts at The Dam, the smell of stale beer clinging to my skin, and the hollow feeling of coming home to a house where the bills were always a week overdue. I thought about the drunks I had tolerated, the arseholes I had ignored, and the women I had used as temporary distractions—encounters in staff rooms or cramped toilets that had never meant a thing, just a way to feel something other than fucking tired.

A completely different life. A different Alex.

I looked down at my hands. They weren't cracked from glass wash or shaking from too much caffeine anymore. I looked at the expensive laptop—a gift from a woman who believed in my brain more than I ever had.

Now, my dad was probably just finishing his shift at a job that actually respected him, earning more than his old odd jobs combined. My mum was likely resting in a house where the heating was actually turned on. And me? I was going home to a woman who was currently probably marking coursework or planning our dinner, a woman who was as brilliant as she was beautiful, and who had made it her personal mission to make sure I never felt that "hollow" ever again.

I was no longer the girl fighting for scraps. I was a student with a future, a woman with a home, and a "princess" with a queen waiting for her.

It all came down to this one click.

I took a deep breath, feeling the ghost of that old, tired Alex one last time, and I thanked her for getting me there. Then, I pressed the button.

[SUBMISSION SUCCESSFUL]

A jagged, shaky breath escaped my lungs. I leaned back in the hard library chair, a grin slowly spreading across my face. I was done. I fucking did it.

I grabbed my bag and my phone, tapping out a quick message to the only person I wanted to see.

Alex: Get the wine ready, Dr. Carter. Your student just finished her first year.