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Holy swoon.
There was a long silence between us, and it looked like he was holding his breath.
“Are you sleeping with your eyes open now? Or pretending not to hear me again? It’s not like I say that type of thing all the time … or ever actually.” He let out one low, jagged breath. “Okay, this is awkward.” He laughed again. “I’m going to make you breakfast.”
When he scooted to the edge of the bed, I reached for his arm, stilling him. “I’m sorry …”
“Oh, God,” he groaned, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “This is not how I wanted this to go, Sydney. Let me make you breakfast and pretend I didn’t say it. I’m new to all of this. It’s not like I’ve said that to other women before, but …” He shook his head. “Never mind. I didn’t mean to freak you out, okay? I know it’s soon, but, man, I know what this is, okay? And you and I, we are the real deal. Forget it.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “The look on your face tells me you’re freaking out again. Let me get some food in that stomach of yours, and then you can decide if you’re too good for me.”
He was almost out the door before I sat up and blurted it out, closing my eyes tightly. “I love you!”
I’d wanted to say it before it was too late, before he walked out. Before he thought this feeling—whatever was happening between us—was one-sided. Because I knew what too late was. I should have told Mom I loved her before she got sick, when we were happy and life was bliss and I took every day for granted.
I felt the mattress sink, but I didn’t dare open my eyes.
“Why do you have your eyes closed?” And instead of that vulnerable tone of voice, he sounded amused now. “Is it too much to say with your eyes open? Am I really that ugly?”
His warm palm cupped my face, and I opened my eyes to meet his.
“I’m overwhelmed,” I admitted, gulping hard on all these emotions swimming inside of me.
He frowned, worried. “By me?”
“By you. By how I feel about you. About how I feel when I’m not with you—missing you, wanting to be with you all the time.”
And as if my confession had taken a thousand-pound weight off his shoulders, he sagged next to me. “Well, if you didn’t know already, the feeling is mutual.”
His smile was blinding and beautiful and bright—all the things I cherished—and it put me at ease.
“I haven’t been here in a long time, and I’m afraid,” I said, putting myself out there and admitting my true fear. Yes, Alec was one, but this … this was big and scary and new. So many what-ifs played in my head, filling me with doubt.
But there was a gentleness in his eyes. A gentleness I never would’ve thought that guy in the mall or that guy who had ripped James to shreds was capable of.
“Of what, baby?” He cupped the other side of my face, both of his palms cradling my cheeks.
“That everything is too good to be true. That everything will come crashing down when Alec and Brandy find out.”
He sighed. “Didn’t you hear me?”
I quirked an eyebrow, confused.
“I just said I love you.” He said it with the utmost conviction in his tone. “And don’t think for one second that I’m going to allow anything to crash our happiness. Nothing is going to get between us. Trust me, okay?”
When I nodded, he placed a kiss on my lips that I felt all the way down to my toes.
AUSTIN
After rehab, I was a sweaty, cranky mess. Nothing a good dose of Sydney wouldn’t clear. Too bad my woman had work.
So, after a long, hot shower at the rehab facility, I called my sister to meet me up for lunch at our favorite restaurant, Benitos.
I handed my keys to the valet and pulled down my baseball cap, covering my eyes. A few people recognized me as I stepped into the restaurant, but I moved past them to the front, where a woman wearing a black skirt suit led me to the back of the restaurant.
I’d called ahead—what I did normally when I went to a restaurant. I always had the back room, whether I was with my family or friends.
Though the hype and gossip had died down since the fight, I didn’t need anyone making up more shit.
When I entered the room with a long dining table fit for twelve, Brandy stood. She smiled before bum-rushing me and encasing me in a big hug.
