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* * *
I looked down at the email, saw that Mav sent it to me on Thursday.
I want to be with you and only you because:
A- I’m in love with you
B- I’m not marrying Farrah because she’s marrying the love of her life
C- I believe in us
D- All of the above
* * *
I blinked back tears, then read it again. Mav was quiet and still before me. Waiting. The busyness of the hotel lobby swirled around us. Ignored. I took my time, then finally looked up at him. His dark eyes were filled with worry. A touch of hope, too.
“You’re not married?” I asked, my throat aching from unshed tears. I’d thought I cried them all out, but I was wrong.
He shook his head and slowly raised his hand to caress my cheek. “I haven’t asked the right woman yet.”
He meant me.
“What about Farrah?”
Before he could answer, a commotion had Mav pulling me close and seeing what was going on. There, swearing and shouting about a bad marriage, a very angry man cut across the lobby.
He turned back to me and held me close and told me the truth. God, it was like a truth bomb the way he dropped it all on me. How he’d grown up with this Farrah woman, their fathers’ asshole-based friendship. Her sexual orientation. Having to hide it. The trust fund. Mav being her escort to events. All of it.
“Last weekend, she tried calling me, but I ignored her,” he explained. It seemed he had to make me understand completely. Why he did what he did. “Paid attention only to you.”
“If you responded to her, none of this would have happened,” I said.
“If you responded to me, we could have been together all week,” he countered.
His words stung because it had been awful. All these days and we could have been together if I had taken the time to truly think. About us, about what we’d built in such a short time.
“She’s been my friend since we were kids and I told her I’d protect her and keep her secret. It wasn’t mine to tell.”
“You’re a really good friend,” I told him. His loyalty to the woman showed his integrity.
“I wasn’t a good friend to you. I left too fast and didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to keep it a secret. I know we were only together for a little while, but I don’t need longer to know you’re it for me, baby. These past few days of hell proved it.”
I did cry because of that, tears sliding down my cheeks. Hope and relief and happiness overflowed as he stroked my hair.
“They sure did,” I confirmed.
“What’s one plus one?” he asked, leaning down and whispering it. His nose brushed along my neck and I shivered.
I smiled against my cheek. “Two.”
He shook his head and pulled back just enough so his eyes met mine. There was the warmth, the hope. Everything I liked about him in just a glance.
“One.” He kissed me, completely and thoroughly, right there in the hotel lobby. “We’re definitely one.”
When he pulled back, I was breathless. And ridiculously happy.
“I’m really good at math, so you’re going to have to prove that answer,” I said.
