Page 76 of The Broken Hearts Club

I paused and thought about that before saying, “I was going to say I’m asking you to choose me, but that’s not it. I’m asking you to choose yourself. You’ve always prioritized other people and been utterly selfless, but I want you to put yourself first for once, Collie. I hope that means coming back to San Francisco and being with me, but what I want more than anything is for you to choose the life you truly want for yourself.”

“Of course I want to be with you. If I could have one wish, it’d be for us to build a life together in San Francisco,” he said softly. “But I’ve never gotten the happily ever after. It doesn’t even seem possible. Whenever I’ve gotten a taste of true happiness, it’s been torn away from me. I finally made it to San Francisco, and right after that, I found out I had a life-threatening medical condition. Then this amazing thing started to happen between you and me, so of course something happened to bring me back here.”

“But that won’t always be the case.”

“Won’t it? Coming back to my hometown was a pretty easy choice, not just because Jeannie needed me, but because I felt like everything was going to fall apart anyway. It was all too good, too perfect. I’m not the boy who gets the gorgeous, amazing guy, or gets to have his dreams come true. I’m just not. I’m the one who loses everything, over and over again. The one who’s learned hope only gets you heartbreak.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” I told him. “Not this time. I’m yours if you want me, Collie, and you have a home waiting for you in San Francisco.”

He moved closer and asked, “Are you sure I’m what you want? Because I’m kind of a mess.”

“You’re wonderful, Collie. You’re sweet, and kind, and beautiful, and it’s no wonder that I’m completely in love with you.”

He whispered, “Say that again.”

“I love you, Collie.”

“I love you, too.” He cupped my cheek, and I rested my forehead against his. “I wanted to say that for a while now, but I didn’t know you felt the same way.”

“Now you do.”

He smiled and repeated, “Now I do.”

When I kissed him, it felt like a promise. Then we curled up together under the blanket, and as we waited for the next shooting star, he said, “We did all of this backwards. We got married, fell in love, and haven’t had sex yet. Now what? Do we start dating?”

“We’re so far beyond dating.”

“Does that mean I can call you my boyfriend?”

“You can if you want to,” I said, “or you can call me your husband, since that’s actually what I am.”

“Not just on paper?”

“Definitely not just on paper.”

A laugh of pure joy burst from him, and he hugged me as he murmured, “I have a husband. How wild is that?”

“I know that wasn’t exactly the wedding ceremony of your dreams, so if you want to do it again with more guests and more pomp and circumstance, we definitely can.”

“Nah, I’m good. I mean, unless you want a big, fancy wedding, and a huge reception, and all of that.” Just then, another shooting star blazed across the sky, and he slammed his hand over his mouth and squealed with delight.

I grinned and took his hand. “Nope. I’m perfectly happy.”

“With our shotgun wedding?”

“With everything.”

18

Collie

We ended up staying with Jeannie for two weeks. The morning we were set to go back home, her in-laws picked up Scotty, Allie, and Maddy to take them to the park. It broke my heart all over again to say goodbye to those amazing kids, although as Jeannie pointed out, “You know it’s not actually goodbye. It’s not like you’re moving to Mars. We’re going to visit, and video chat, and all of that good stuff.”

I dried my eyes with the cuff of my hoodie and said, “You’re right. I just love the hell out of those little people, and I’m going to miss them.”

“I know. They love you too, and they’re just as crazy about their Uncle Millie.”

Miller was sitting beside us on the front porch, and he shot Jeannie a look and said, “I thought we talked about that nickname.”