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“Lily, that was–” he has to stop again to laugh. “That was Naomi. She’s like a sister to me.”
“Yea right. Like I’ll believe anything you say. Your sister? Honestly, I expected something more original than that.”
He shakes his head, his entire face melting with relief.
“You crazy ass girl. I thought–” he stops, shaking his head again. “Thank God. Thank God.”
He exhales before he pulls his phone from his back pocket, effectively keeping me pinned with his legs in the process.
“Here. Look at this. That’s Yasmine. Naomi’s wife. That’s Naomi. This is Juniper. Their oldest daughter. And this… this is Emerson, our newest little addition to the family. She’s four months old now.”
As I stare at each picture he flips through, showing me one of the most beautiful families I’ve ever seen, my throat threatens to close. As if to humiliate me further, tears fall anew.
“If I let you up, are you going to keep trying to kill me?” His smile is wide as his eyes twinkle with laughter. I pinch my lips together, shaking my head. The pressure of his weight eases as he stands. He reaches a hand down for me.
“Leave me here to die,” I mutter, my mortification triggering nausea. His chuckle tugs a small smile out of me.
“Come on and get up.”
I accept his hand and gasp as he crushes me into his arms. He buries his face into my neck rocking me from side to side. I close my eyes basking in the relief I feel. I wrap my arms around his back, giggling at myself. Wow. I really lost it. We stand like that for a long time, both of us breathing each other in. Finally, he pulls back, cupping my cheek in his palm.
“I love you,” he whispers, leaning in to touch the tip of his nose to mine. I inhale sharply, feeling a million things at once.
“You love me? After all this?” I ask.
“Because of all this.”
Now I’m crying again. Damn it. “I love you too.”
We sink to the floor, and I fold myself into him needing to be as close to him as possible. I thought I’d lost this. I thought it’d been a lie. Now that I know it’s real, new, but real, I have to have it. I have to have him.
After several minutes, he says, “I think you broke every dish you own.”
“I think so too. I wish you had told me before you let me wreck my entire place.”
“How is this my fault?”
“I don’t know. It just is.”
I feel him smile against my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, Stefan.”
