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“The truth?” I stand straight and nod. “I got super drunk and showed up at your apartment. The lady next door told me you moved out. I returned home a wreck, and Maria was the perfect distraction.”
It takes a moment for the information to process, but when it does, my cheeks flush. He slept with her? After everything?
I can’t say he cheated on me because we weren’t together. We never were. But once you’ve been cheated on, you know the feeling of betrayal. And this feels like that.
“We kissed for five seconds before I realized that I didn’t want to feel anyone’s lips but yours. I sent her away and I had a sudden idea. I was desperate for something to connect me to you. I didn’t have a single item of yours, and you didn’t contact me. To be fair, I stopped trying because I knew it was risky. I put my head on straight and allowed the space because I knew I shouldn’t have gotten near you to begin with.
“So, I dragged Santi to the tattoo shop in the middle of the night. He looked at me like I was crazy when I explained it to him on the ride over, but I think it finally clicked for him. Just how much you mean to me.”
His confession reminds me of Gustav, and I realize I owe him the same. “I get it. When I went to Char’s housewarming party, I had a similar thing happen with one of her friends. We just made out, but it was enough for me to know I didn’t want anyone else.”
Lorenzo nods in understanding. “You were always mine.”
“I was always yours.”
“I was always yours, too.”
My mouth parts and I lean into him again. “Lorenzo…”
“Please,” he whispers. “Call me Zo.”
“Zo,” I whisper. That phenomenon happens as we stare into each other's eyes, where it feels like time stops and there’s no one else in the world but us. And for the first time, I don’t run from it. I welcome the fire. I want us to burn so bright that when people try to look at us, they’re blinded.
His tongue swipes his bottom lip and I kiss him, gingerly at first, but he digs his hand into my hair and pulls me closer.
“I’d take any pain for you,” he says against my lips.
“The greatest pain would be losing you,” I say between kisses.
“You’ll never lose me. You have me, for now and for always.”
Epilogue
July 3rd - Kate
“Let’sseeit,”Zosays when we step into the sunlight.
I pass him the driver’s license, grinning from ear to ear. In the aftermath of everything that happened, taking my driver’s test took the backseat. “I did it! I can’t believe it.”
“I can,” he replies, smiling at the ID before handing it back. “I never expected anything less from a badass like you.”
He takes my hand in his, clasping his fingers around mine and walking us towards his car. He lets me go at the driver’s side and hands me his keys, then circles to the passenger side. I step into his car with no fear of driving.
He quit smoking after the first court proceeding for their fathers indictments, yet the fading scent of smoke that permeates the space invites nostalgia. It brings me a peace I never thought I’d find from it because it reminds me of him.
Smoke and cinnamon.
Once he’s inside the car, I tease him.
“Even after all this, you can’t open a door for me?” I’m not truly offended the way I was all those months ago. Then again, I was certain he didn’t care about me back then.
“Why would I diminish your worth by holding a door open for you? Here’s the thing, Kate. I’m never gonna be the guy in shining armor. I’m not going to fawn over you and treat you as some little bird who’s injured and needs my help. I’m the guy that forces you to dig deep inside yourself and embrace the power already stowed in you. Be the fire, princess. Not the ash.”
“That feels rich coming from the man who quite literally rescued me and saved my life.”
“See, this is where semantics matter. You couldn’t get yourself out of that situation. Someone inevitably had to save you, and I want to be damn sure that someone is always me. But when you can do it yourself… why would I intervene?”
He leans across the console, breathing life into the previously stale air. “Especially when you are so sexy when you’re badass.”
