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The MC clocked us the moment we walked in. No doubt he’d be waiting, entertaining the audience for a while as we made our way down here. “And here is the man of the hour! Mr. Reed Lawson!”
Valen jumped a little as people scraped their seats back so they could get to their feet and applaud. She squeezed my hand a little tighter, and when I looked down, expecting her to be frightened, instead, the smile on her face was so wide. “Come on.”
We made our way to the stage with Bronson in front of us. He walked up first, then held his hand out to Valen, who took it gratefully as the stairs were quite steep and not so sturdy, so I walked behind her, just as a precaution.
Bronson led Valen over to the side while I stepped up to the mic and cleared my throat. Speaking in front of a room full of people was not my favorite pastime, but I had to do it every now and then. This time though, while there was still a twist in my stomach when I looked out and saw those people in the crowd that I knew for sure Valen hadn’t noticed yet, I had never felt more confident about anything in my damn life.
“Over the past few months, I have had the chance to learn a lot about mental health. Not only from doctors whose knowledge I value and trust but also from the people who directly and personally live through it every day or are impacted by it,” I explained, standing tall. “It has not only been eye-opening but heartbreaking, to say the least. I’ve experienced the good, the bad, and, as some of you may have read about a few months ago in the paper, the severely disturbing.”
Many heads nodded around the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Valen pushing her shoulders back.
Standing taller.
Giving her lungs more room to breathe through the thoughts of that night.
“When we talk about health, we so often relate it to fixing our bodies but don’t consider our minds. They are a part of us, a pretty damn important part, so when it’s sick, we need to be able to treat it.”
People burst from their seats, clapping and hooting.
The people in this room had been invited because of their passion for what we were talking about. They had felt it. Experienced it. Treated it. And those were the people I wanted to hear this.
“It’s why I decided to create this foundation. Where we can have events like this, take donations, raise funds, and direct those toward the places which are really working and doing extraordinary things within this field, like research and resources and programs,” I explained, raising my voice when the applause only got louder. “Or if that’s not enough, we can create something brand new.”
A hand grabbed hold of mine, and when I turned my head, Valen stood there, tears streaming down her face as she smiled out at the crowd of people.
But I wasn’t done yet.
So I held her hand, and I watched her as I spoke, seeing the expressive nature of her face having quickly become an obsession of mine. “So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first dinner and auction of The Maddie Foundation,” I announced, and Valen sucked in a sharp breath of air, her eyes shooting wide open as she looked at me, then out at the crowd, then back at me, before launching herself into my arms.
I barely had enough time to catch her, and she pressed her face into the crook of my neck.
“I hate you for telling me this while we are on a stage in front of hundreds of people,” she hissed through tears before pulling back so I could see her face. “But God, I love you.”
I grabbed her face and pulled her mouth to mine, kissing her so fucking hard that I forgot anything around us even existed.
I love you.
She had said the words I’d been wanting to say for a while.
But I wanted to wait until she was ready.
I wanted everything to move at her pace.
I didn’t want to rush her, not after the start of our relationship had been zero to one hundred in a heartbeat.
But now…
I pulled back, ignoring the crowd’s excitement in the background as we both fought for breath. “I fucking love you too.”
She laughed and swiped at a tear that dripped down her cheek. “Goddamn you, Reed Lawson. You’ve completely messed my makeup.”
“It’s probably going to get worse,” I warned, adjusting a few rogue strands of hair with my fingers, forcing them back into place. “Did you see the table in the front to the right?”
The smile dropped into a frown, and she turned, scanning the crowd until she found them. “Oh my God,” she gasped, pressing her hand to her heart. “Oh my God. How did you… it’s… oh my God.” She swung back to face me, a fresh set of tears tumbling down her cheeks.
“Go,” I ordered, and when she paused for a second, I tried again. “Go.”
She swallowed hard and sucked in a long, deep breath before turning and hurrying to the edge of the stage, wobbling down a couple of steps and opening her arms wide.
