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“I like the color.” I stepped toward her bed, plopping down on the edge.
“It’s twice as big as my last one,” Lizzie continued, bending to open three empty drawers. She joined me on her bed, folding her right knee beneath her. “Because I want you to know there’s room for you here, with me…and whatever else that brings or means.”
I looked at her. “Room for me?”
“And whatever or whoever joins your world.” She nervously swallowed. “And when you’re called away, your things will be safe here. I mean, we talked about it before…Noah, look—”
“Lizzie, I really need to say something.” I turned to face her. “Before we make a move to live together, we need to talk about what happened between us. I know why you left me, but I wish you could have waited to talk to me. I should’ve followed you…” I closed my eyes. “You have nothing to worry about. I didn’t want you to slip through my fingers at the park. I didn’t have a chance to breathe and tell you.” Lizzie stiffened at my side, her eyebrows furrowed while she stared at me. “Callie’s baby isn’t mine. I made them take a paternity test. I knew it couldn’t have been. Christ, this was a disaster.”
“That poor baby.” Lizzie gaped, covering her mouth. I nodded sadly, agreeing with her. “It isn’t yours.”
“You’re mine,” I assured her, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. “Don’t let our pasts, or whatever expectations we think the other has, scare us away. I mean it when I tell you that I love you.”
“Move in with me,” she repeated, her eyes closed as I pulled back. “I’m ready for whatever comes next.”
“How about a shower?” I baited, squeezing her knee while standing up from the bed. When Lizzie opened her eyes with the intoxicating hum of her laughter, I knew we were back to where we belonged. She reached out for my hands, and we headed toward the shower, ready for whatever came next.
***
I tossed the random takeout boxes into the trash while Lizzie climbed onto the counter next to me. It was still raining, her power flickering out two hours ago when we’d gotten out of the shower. With our dinner over, all appetites satisfied, there was nothing left to do except enjoy our night together…and plan for what was to be. I moved to stand in front of Lizzie, rewarded with her hands against my bare chest while she traced my tattoos and kissed my throat, wrapping her legs around my waist and pulling me closer to her.
“I had fun walking with you tonight,” I told her, placing a loose curl behind her left ear.
“Because that’s what we do,” she uttered, pressing her forehead against mine, “or because it led us here.”
“All walks lead to getting in bed with you,” I teased. Her laughter surrounding us, Lizzie reached across the counter for an open wine bottle, and I took the hint, grabbing two mugs from the rack behind her. I offered to pour, but her ankles tightened around my waist. She wasn’t letting go, and I liked that.
“When you told me before,” she swallowed from her mug full of wine, “that you should have followed me, what stopped you?”
I pressed my fingertips into Lizzie’s thighs, anchoring her against me while I thought. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? We were both afraid of something, and it’s juvenile how we both handled it.”
“Juvenile?” Lizzie lifted an eyebrow, her stare skeptical. “I was terrified, and when you didn’t even…okay, fine, you did try calling me—”
“And you ignored me.”
She groaned, staring at the ceiling while taking another sip. “Noah. You’re being an ass. I was terrified. I might not be able to ever have kids, and I don’t even know if I want one, but there we were with your perfect life flashing before you without giving me a chance to know if I could even be part of it. That’s a lot of really heavy shit to consider in the moment.” I wanted to tell her running wasn’t the answer and that I’d never leave her, but I bit my tongue and pressed my hands deeper into her thighs while she spoke.
“I needed time,” she murmured. “It sounds so stupid.” I took her chin between my left fingers, anchoring her stare on mine while my eyes flickered between hers as quickly as my heart beat.
“I can’t stand being away from you because I love you, Lizzie! I plan on loving you forever. Did that cross your mind? Did you have a chance to consider us in any of that before you texted me tonight?” Not that it mattered. I was there, she messaged me, we were getting back to normal…Regretting my inability to bite my tongue hard enough, I stepped away and stood at the adjacent counter, folding my knuckles over the edge.
Shards of ceramic blue and gold tapped my ankles when her mug shattered across the floor. “What did you just say?”
“Pick up your damn mess.” I shook my head. “You’re nuts, Lizzie.”
“I might be a bag of cashews, Noah, but you said I’m your bag of cashews…for…tell me again.”
I peered over my shoulder at her. “That you’ve lost your mind, ruined my favorite mug—” she knocked me in the side, her small fist quick to spread and rub her wound as I said, “—or that I love you?”
“Forever,” she pressed, winding her arms around me from behind. I lifted my hands to the knot of her fingers below my chest, squeezing them.
“What do you say, beautiful?” I lifted her fingers to my lips, kissing them softly before turning around to face her. Lizzie was grinning at me through the small tears threatening her widened eyes. Heart, be still.Balls, hold on. I was running on impulse and hope, a raging mix Lizzie awoke within me, and I was addicted. Her hands in mine, I lowered to one knee. What am I doing? She was probably wondering the same thing, but all I wanted to do was ask her. That’s what I was doing.
“I say you’re insane,” she whimpered, joining me on her knees, “and I love you.”
“Elizabeth Jacqueline Lewis,” I whispered, pressing my forehead against hers, “you asked me once which muscle I could pinch to make someone go limp. Do you remember that? Right before you proposed to me in the hospital.” I felt her giggle against me, nodding through her tears. “I have a secret to tell you. Are you listening?” I waited for her head to roll upward, so I could look into her eyes before continuing. “It’s the heart, and you’ve had mine in your grasp since the moment I heard you behind Avery’s door. No matter when they call me up for duty, where I go, or what happens here, I’m yours. So tell me the truth…do you want to grow old with me, Lizzie?”
“The truth,” she mumbled, her voice trembling. “I never want you to leave. I want to grow old with you, mermaid.”
