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He smirks at me. “And if we hadn’t come in when we did?”
I give him a flirty smile and a shrug.
“Rae McKinley, I’m proud of you.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Don’t get too excited. I’m still the girl who wants all the romance, and I’m pretty bummed I stayed with someone so wrong for me for so long.”
He raises his eyebrows.
I put my hand up. “Don’t say it. Don’t say—”
“I told you so,” Joel says, walking into the kitchen. “Wealldid.”
“That makes it better, thanks.”
“I wasn’t trying to make it better. Would anything anyway?”
I smirk at him, grab the beer that Miles is holding out to me, lean in close, and say, “Your brother’s lips seemed to help.” Then I shrug, turn around, and walk for the back door, leaving him staring at me, mouth agape as Miles chuckles.
Sarah scampers over to me. “Rae baby! I let you go off by yourself for two hours and you’re halfway to screwing Jesse?”
I smile and roll my eyes. “That’s how rumors start, you know,” I tease.
She swats at me. “I’m kinda proud. And a little jealous,” she says with a laugh, looping her arm through mine and guiding us to the fire pit.
As we hang by the fire, Trevor happily helps me tell the story of how I told off Davey, and we fill them in on what we did afterward. Everyone is enjoying how much moxie I seemed to have gained between lunch and the party.
It feels good to sit around the fire with my friends, laughing and relaxing. I wasn’t trying to cut them out tonight. I just needed a little break. I’m glad we’re all so close, but sometimes it’s a lot to process all of their reactions and thoughts when I haven’t even processed everything myself. But sitting here with all of them, enjoying the warm night, I feel completely safe, comfortable, like I’m home.
Slowly, everyone breaks off, making their way inside or back home, until it’s just Aaron and me in front of the fire. There’s soft music playing from a speaker that no one bothered to turn off. He’s sitting in a chair directly next to me, but we’ve been relaxing in a comfortable silence.
His head lifts and his gaze goes to the speaker. Then he smiles and says, “Stand up.”
I raise my eyebrows in confusion, but he gets up and holds out his hands to me.
I let him pull me up, and he immediately wraps me in his big arms. First in a hug, but then he starts to slowly sway with me. I close my eyes and listen, trying to hear the words to the song. That’s when I realize it’s one of my favorites,Love Like Thisby Ben Rector.
“For the record,” he whispers, “I’m glad you’re done with Davey. NoI told you so,but you deserve so much more than that.” He clears his throat. “And I’m glad you didn’t hook up with Jesse.”
I look up at him with wide eyes. His gaze is soft as he looks at me. It’s peaceful and… loving. And suddenly,I’mglad I didn’t hook up with Jesse. Even if I can’t explain exactly why.
“I appreciate that. I wish I wouldn’t have stayed with Davey so long. He was never what I wanted. I always wanted the love story with swoonworthy moments, and the person who loves you in every single way, who looks at you like you’re the only person in the room, who makes you feel loved and adored, who will fight for you, always. I want real love. I guess I’ll have to wait on that. Davey definitely was never it.”
Aaron looks at me, his eyes growing more serious. His hand firmly presses into my low back sending waves of heat through my body.
I slide my hand up his chest and let it rest over his heart. I swear I can feel it beating.
“I never realized it, but I think I want the same thing. I mean, I don’t know about swoonworthy,” he says with a laugh. “But I want the big forever love with the right person. The one who gets me. Who wants all of me, and who would never give up on me.”
“You think you’ll have it?” I ask.
“I know I will,” he says. “And so will you. Someday you’re gonna have a guy who sees your worth and treats you better than Davey ever did. Ever could. You’re gonna have the guy who thinks you are the best thing in the world. The one who looks at you like you’re the only girl in the room, the one who will fight for you every day, the one who only wants to see you smile, the one who loves you like no one else ever will.” He drags his fingers down my arms, causing a throbbing sensation deep inside me. “You deserve someone who will know and understand every inch of you, mind, body, and soul, and will recognize exactly how amazing and incredible you are and treat you that way.” His gaze pierces me, leaving me breathless as he whispers, “You’ll have it.”
His gorgeous bronze eyes sparkle as he says it, and I can’t help but get lost in them. He stops talking as his eyes lock with mine, and he stares deeply into them, like he’s staring directly into my soul.
My heart pounds. I feel breathless. Like I’ve been stripped naked. Everything about this moment is intense and… intimate.
In fact, it feels more intimate than what I did with Jesse tonight. More intimate than anything I’ve ever done with Davey. The way he’s talking, what he’s saying, it feels like he’s speaking from his soul to mine. And as I stare into his eyes, I see… deep sincerity but alsolove.
