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She snorted. “Oh, that’s our favorite thing. When men do things for our own good. Super fun. I’m sure Andi loved that.”
He groaned and tossed the candy bar onto the seat next to him. “I screwed everything up.”
Eliza laughed and patted his knee. “Oh, honey, that’s obvious. If you don’t do something about it, she’s definitely going to murder you in a book.”
He gave her a droll look. “You must be a really encouraging therapist.”
“I’m the best,” she said, popping the second half of her peanut butter cup in her mouth and clearly not taking offense.
“Hold up. There is candy and no one brought me any?”
Hill’s attention snapped to the left to find Andi standing there with her hands on her hips. He reached out for the Snickers bar and handed it to her. “Courtesy of Eliza.”
Andi took the candy bar and smiled. “Thanks.”
Eliza was on her feet and headed to Andi, wrapping her in a hug before Andi could open the candy. “Oh my God, hey.”
Andi kept her eyes on Hill as she hugged Eliza back. “Hey, girl. Thanks for coming.”
Eliza leaned back, tears in her eyes, her gaze scanning her friend. “Are you okay? For real, for real?”
Andi nodded and reached out to squeeze Eliza’s hand. “I’m okay. I’m going to have to do some creative hairstyling for a little while to cover my newly acquired bald patch, but other than that and a few scrapes, I’m good.”
Hill watched them. Eliza checking her friend over. Andi reassuring her and smiling like she hadn’t just been through an assault. He could see every little scrape, every war wound, even though someone had helped her clean up a little. He wanted to soothe each spot, take her in his arms, make her feel safe.
Safe.
A feeling was filling him, slow and steady, making everything swell inside his chest. He’d told Andi he didn’t want to be her safe choice, but now he realized how wrong he’d been looking at it. Feeling safe with someone was part of what made lovelove.
He wanted to be that person she could be with without worry, the person she could let all her guards down and be herself with. She had become that person for him. She got him talking when he was prone to quiet. She made him laugh when his depression tried to smother him. She was the one who had gotten him cooking again, giving him back something that had always made him happy. She saw him and loved him, and tonight, she’d shown that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easily. The tools he’d used to push other people away since his accident—and maybe for his whole life—weren’t going to work on her.
She was going to be his final girl.
The thought rang through him as loud as church bells.
There was knowing you felt things about a person. But this was more than that. This was…confidence. Confidence in the future. Confidence in himself. Something he hadn’t tasted in a long time. He had a lot of work to do still, but he was going to do it.
Andi was a warrior.
Well, so was he.
He stood so quickly that he knocked the chair back against the wall. Andi and Eliza turned to him, both with questioning looks on their faces.
“Hill?” Andi asked. “Everything okay?”
He had no idea what his expression must be saying. He probably looked like a lunatic. There were too many feelings and words trying to come out at once. “I’m in love with you.”
Andi stared, and Eliza grinned, taking a step back and giving them space.
“I know this isn’t the right place or probably the right time,” he rambled on, phones ringing in the background, police officers walking by. He stepped closer and took her hands in his. “And I know I’ve screwed this all up. I know I said all the wrong things earlier. I got scared. I’m still scared—fucking terrified, actually.”
Andi’s expression softened.
“But I’ve been sitting here and looking at you and thinking about the last couple of months… And I know it’s quick and I know I have a lot to work on but…I don’t want you to go off and look for other guys. I don’t want to be practice. I want to be the guy. Iamthe guy.”
Andi blinked, her eyes glittering with tears. “Yeah?”
He let out a breath, getting the words out feeling like an exorcism. “Yeah.”
