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“Oh my god,” I murmured.

“Yep. Pathetic, right?”

It wasn’t pathetic. It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me. I opened my mouth to say it, but he cut me off.

“And then this thing I made for myself as solace for losing the one who got away, well, everyone loved it, and now it’s being distributed to the entire country.” He dropped his head and stared at the floor. “My love letter to you, written in permanent marker for everyone to read.”

I crossed the remaining space between us, and he took me in his arms at once, gazing down into my face.

“That is the most beautiful thing— I just— I can’t⁠—”

He smirked. “Speechless?”

“A love letter?” I swiped away a rogue tear. “To me?”

“I tried to fall out of love with you. It was like trying not to breathe. And it’s so much harder now that you’re here. The fantasy of you I’d invented didn’t come close to reality. She didn’t light up the way you do when you smile. Her wit was never as clever as yours. I couldn’t even touch her. I could only imagine.”

“I know exactly how you feel, Cam. Every night when I dream, it is always of you.” His smile was small, but it was everything, and I was about to kiss him when something stopped me. “Wait. This love letter. Your father read it.”

His expression closed at once. “Yes.”

“And…he didn’t like it.”

It wasn’t a question, but he answered anyway. “No.”

“Didn’t approve of it.” I lifted my eyebrows.

His arms turned to iron bands around me. “Tell me what he said to you.”

The time had come. I needed to cut the cord. Drive home the nail.

With a sigh, I dropped my gaze to the second button on Cam’s white dress shirt. “He told me that I would never be a Shepherd, that I’d never get rich with his money, and called me a whore for trying.”

Cam’s body stiffened in my arms. “He called you what?”

I couldn’t repeat it.

Rage colored over his expression and danced in his eyes as he stared beyond me, but I touched his face, drawing his gaze back to me. “It’s okay. It doesn’t matter. But he also said if I tried to become serious with you, he’d disinherit you.”

Cam’s lips pursed, but he didn’t look surprised by that part. “He said as much to me as well.”

My mouth dropped. “He did?”

He nodded.

“And…you’re here with me anyway?”

A mask of confusion descended. “How much of a snob do you think I am, Shay? I just told you I’ve been in love with you since I was old enough to even experience that kind of love. Do you really think I’d throw that away for some money?”

My entire world shifted on its axis. “You—you’d give that up for me?”

He laughed as if the question were ridiculous. “I don’t think you understand what I mean when I say I love you. I’d give up anything for you. I’d give anything to you. Take my hand. My name. My whole life. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“Camden,” I said, though it came out as a harsh whisper. “I don’t deserve that.”

“You deserve everything. I don’t understand why you can’t see it.”

“I—”