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“Funny, I was just thinking something similar.” I plopped down on the other side of Ramsey, in the spot they’d saved for me at the end. “So…I’m single now. Think Tuck will want to be my wingman?” Shit. Why had I said that? Hooking up with someone was the last thing I wanted. Talking about Houston and me was right below it as the second thing, but then if that were true, that dumbass question probably never would have come out of my mouth.
“My brother is an idiot. I thought I was supposed to be the screwup McRae brother?” Garrett looked at me like he felt sorry for me. One glance said Houston’s parents, then Ramsey showed me they had the same expression. Did everyone in the fucking world know I loved Houston and he didn’t love me? Talk about embarrassing.
“Let me know when it’s time to board.” I tugged my earbuds from the case and put them in. Flying home with Houston’s family had been a mistake. Yeah, Connie said I was always welcome, but it would be weird now. I was ready to peace the fuck out and catch another flight home.
My leg was bouncing as I listened to one of my playlists. I dropped my head back and closed my eyes, hoping that would make everyone leave me the fuck alone. I needed to go back to not feeling shit because it was a whole lot easier than this.
I didn’t know how much time went by before Ramsey nudged me. It couldn’t have been long because Houston hadn’t gotten me to the airport with too much time to spare. They were boarding military members before they would go to first class.
Connie was watching me as I stood, swinging my duffle bag onto my shoulder. She had that mom sort of look, the sad one that said she wanted to hug you and…would it be weird if I let her?
“We would like to invite our first-class members to board,” the attendant said overhead. I made my way toward the line, hearing some kind of scuffle going on behind me.
“Watch it, buddy!” a guy cursed.
I didn’t turn around until “Cullen!” rang out around me in Houston’s voice. My body whipped around, and there Houston was…running through the airport like we were in a movie or something. He pushed his way through crowds of people, his face pink with a mixture of embarrassment and exhaustion. How far had he run? My heart beat against my chest, a staccato rhythm that echoed through my whole body. “Cull!” he said again, breaking through a group of people before sliding to a stop in front of me.
“What the hell are you doing? You’re going to hurt your knee.”
“I’m in love with you,” spilled from his lips. “I’m in love with you,” he said again. “I’ve known it for a while now, but I just kept telling myself it wouldn’t work—I’m in LA, and you’re in Denver. Who knows what our careers hold for us after that. It’s the exact same situation we were stuck in last time, but with every step I took away from you, I knew I didn’t care about all the things standing in our way. It doesn’t matter if it’s hard because I still have you. I’m not letting myself walk away from you the way I did last time. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. I’m not giving up without fighting for you because…because my world isn’t right without you, Cullen Atwood. It’s always been you for me.”
I didn’t say anything for a moment, words stuck in my throat. We were surrounded by hundreds of people, most of them with their phones out, recording every moment of this, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was Houston loved me.
“That’s it…that was the speech. You have to say something now…”
All I could do was smile and ask, “What took you so long, dummy?”
He chuckled. “I got almost all the way to my car before I realized I couldn’t do it…then I had to buy a fucking ticket, go through security and all of that. I just made a big, grand gesture in front of everyone at LAX, and that’s all you can say?” He smirked. He was still sweaty and breathing heavy, but he’d also never been sexier.
“I’ve been in love with you probably since before we kissed for the first time, Houston. That shit ain’t ever going away. ’Bout time you caught up.”
I wrapped my hand around his nape and tugged him close before it was Houston closing the final distance between us, slamming his mouth down on mine. The crowd erupted in cheers around us, and there was zero doubt in my mind that we were currently being live streamed all over the internet. All that meant was I had to make this extra good. I pushed my tongue into his mouth, tasting the familiar flavor of him, let my hand drift down to cup his ass, pulling him tight against me.
