Page 244 of Override

"She just did."

Something shifts behind his eyes. Not anger. Not fear. Confusion. As though the possibility had genuinely never occurred to him.

I stand. "I've spent my entire life studying systems." I gesture vaguely around the warehouse. "They all fail eventually."

His eyes follow me. "But people..." A small smile finds its way onto my face before I can stop it. "...people choose."

I think about the apartment. About the bedroom. About the way Maeve still reaches for my hand without realizing she's doing it. About the way she kisses the corner of my mouth when she thinks I'm worrying too much.

"And every single day..." I meet his eyes one last time. "...Maeve chooses me."

I turn and walk out of the warehouse while Ronan starts screaming behind me.

When I step outside my eyes find Cormac’s. “Not a word to Maeve.”

He hesitates for just a minute before giving me a small nod. “Not a word.”

****

The apartment is quiet when I unlock the door. A movie plays softly from the television. Maeve is asleep on the couch beneath the blanket she insists belongs there instead of folded over the armrest.

She stirs when the door clicks shut.

Green eyes blink open. "There you are."

I smile. "Here I am."

She sits up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Everything okay?"

I cross the room before answering. Then crouch in front of her, resting my hands lightly over hers.

I've rehearsed this conversation a hundred different ways. Every version sounds ridiculous. Too dramatic. Too little. Too much. In the end...The truth is the only thing that makes sense.

"I've reached a conclusion."

She smiles immediately. "That sounds serious."

"It is." I take a slow breath. "I've spent the last several months collecting evidence."

Her smile grows. "Oh?"

"I've reviewed it repeatedly."

"I don't doubt that."

"I attempted to find an alternative explanation."

"And?"

"I couldn't."

She brushes her thumb across my knuckles. "What did your investigation discover?"

I look into the green eyes that somehow became home. "My favorite place isn't this apartment." She waits. "It's wherever you are."

My throat tightens.

"I love you, Maeve."