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It doesn’t fix everything, but it finally feels like a step in the right direction. And as we break the kiss, I can feel myself starting to let her back in—and for once, it doesn’t send me into a panicked frenzy.
“I want you to know that I’m yours,” I tell her. “There’s still a lot that I’m working through, but I don’t want to lose you. It’s not going to be easy, but I want to be with you. I want the future we talked about.”
Relief washes over her as she smiles back at me. “That’s all I want.”
I kiss her again, unable to help myself. I can’t believe she gave up the job she’s wanted since she was a kid just to stay here with me. Here I was thinking that she was going to leave me again to go back, and that was never even on the table.
We start to walk back to the party, but there’s still a question on my mind. “Why didn’t you tell me you quit?”
She takes our conjoined hands and moves so that my arm is around her and she’s pressed against my side. “I didn’t want you to think that I was pressuring you into forgiving me. You need to do that on your own terms, not mine.”
I turn my head and press a kiss into her hair. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asks.
“Not giving up on us.”
Just before we get back to all our friends, she stops and turns to face me. “It’s always been you for me, H. That won’t ever change.”
While she was gone, I spent more time watching our wedding video than I’d like to admit. So, I immediately recognize the last two lines of her vows, and hearing her repeat them back to me now, it’s everything I never knew I needed.
I crash my lips against hers, needing to be closer to hers.
“Stop being gross and get me a beer, barkeep!” Owen bellows, and everyone looks our way. Laiken giggles against my mouth.
“I’m going to ban his ass from the bar,” I mutter.
“You won’t. And even if you did, he wouldn’t listen to it.”
Yeah, she’s probably right.
We walk back over to the bonfire, and I sit down before pulling her onto my lap. Everyone sneaks glances in our direction, probably wondering what’s going on with us, but all I care about is her.
She and Mali start bantering back and forth with their little sarcastic digs they tend to throw at each other. But I’m too busy thinking of a way I can show her that I’m serious, and an idea comes to mind.
I put my hand on Laiken’s leg and tap three times, just like we used to do.I. Love. You.Because I do love her. I’ve never loved anyonebuther. I might still be working on being able to say it again, but she needs to know that I do.
She notices it immediately and turns to smile at me. I wrap my arms around her and she leans back, putting her lips next to my ear.
“I love you, too.”
THE CLOSER IT GETSto midnight, the more excited Laiken gets. We have it all planned out. At eleven-thirty, we push a cake out from the back and everyone sings happy birthday to both Laiken and Mali. Sparklers shoot out of it in the place of candles and they both look so damn happy. And when it comes time for Laiken to make a wish, she stares back at me, looking at me in a way that makes me come alive again.
I watch from a distance as she laughs with a few of her friends, but her attention always has a way of coming back to me. We’re always focused on each other, even when it looks like we’re not.
The alarm I set on my phone goes off, letting me know it’s 11:59 p.m. I refuse to let anyone else be the first person to say happy birthday to her as it strikes midnight. I make my way over to her and wrap my arms around her as soon as I’m close enough.
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
She melts into me, the same way she used to. “You’reamazing. I can’t believe you did all this.”
I press a kiss to her cheek. “You deserve it.”
It feels so good, being able to hold her like this and feel this close to her again. I missed it so damn much. She’s the only one that has ever made me want to wrap my arms around her and never let go.
Glancing up at the clock, I watch as the seconds tick by and the moment it hits midnight, I pull back to look at her.
“Happy birthday, baby,” I say, smiling as she lights up at the term of endearment. “I’m glad you’re celebrating it where you belong.”
