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A tear spilled down her cheek, warm relief spreading from her heart outwards. He’d said he loved her. When had she last heard that from anyone, let alone someone she cared so much about?
She probably needed to acknowledge what he’d said but didn’t know how, or whether she was meant to make a big deal of it.
“You’re offering too much.” She paused, still unsure of what she should say. Maybe his declaration had been a slip of the tongue or simply meant in a far more casual sense than what she interpreted. “I can’t ask you to live in the shadows because of me.”
“You’re not the only one here who values having a choice, and I’m choosing to stay.” He took a moment to stare her down, as though pressing the point that he was dead serious about his feelings for her. “We’re not giving up on each other, understand? Not over this. Not over him.”
She gave a slow nod, unable to pry her gaze from his softened focus. “And how do we get on with our lives when we have no idea what will come next?”
“Like this.” His mouth split into a wide smile, one that made his eyes light up as he pulled the blanket back, a cold blast of air hitting her side.
“What are you doing?” She startled and squealed, then wriggled away, his cold legs slipping beneath the covers beside hers.
Powerful arms pulled her in, and he rolled her so that her back pressed to his torso. The heat of his body calmed her to the core, calmed her into stillness, and into embracing her own gentle strength.
She closed her eyes, disarmed and at peace, fragments of defense sliding under the force of his easy presence. He loved her, and unlike most normal people, she still had no idea what to do with that love.
Tuck it away in a corner of my heart, maybe? Never, ever let it go!
He hugged her tighter, his breath stroking the back of her neck, the strange familiarity between them relaxing her. A familiarity that had survived their youth and the hard years apart.
This sweet simplicity. A soul connection that went deeper than vanity and money and reputation. Not a business move. Just a genuine, heartfelt bond. What she’d craved all along. Blaine protected her, loved her, gave her a way to finally let go...
Her heart softened further, and she couldn’t keep from saying his name. “Blaine?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He kissed her shoulder, causing her to close her eyes against the strain that kiss brought to her heart. “You’re welcome.”
And just like that, ten years of pent-up anxiety fizzled down to nothing, her future uncertain but Blaine’s feelings for her far from it. Maybe she, too, could do away with some of her uncertainty.
“Blaine?”
“Yeah?”
“All those years apart. I missed this.”
He didn’t reply, but she got the sense that maybe she’d stunned him. So, she let loose with her one final secret, one that wouldn’t let her close her eyes until she’d spoken it out loud.
“I missed you.”
