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“We’re so different in many ways, you and me. We always have been. But there’s not a single thing about you that I would change.”
He listens. Everyone all around us listens.
And I pause, trying to choose my words in my head before speaking them out loud.
Then I give up all attempts to curate my feelings and just speak straight from the heart.
“Do you know what I’ve wished for every day since election night? I wish I’d had the courage to leave with you. Because you were right about me. I’ve always been trying to live up to an ideal that doesn’t exist. It stops me from going after what I really want. Nothing will stop me anymore. I love you, Micah. I’m not making any demands. I just wanted to tell you this because you deserve to hear it. I love you and I’minlove with you. Completely. Irrevocably.”
The gentle wind subsides.
Micah watches my face.
There’s a cough from somewhere behind me, a low murmur of male voices. Fine, let them listen and judge. I’m not ashamed of the truth.
Micah moves so suddenly I can hardly keep up.
One minute he’s sitting in the chair and considering my words.
A fraction of a second later he’s on his feet and pulling me against the hard wall of his chest. My eager arms hook around his neck and our mouths unite for a kiss that’s hot and ravenous and long.
Micah lifts me off the ground. I feel his need and his hunger to be satisfied. The sudden ache between my legs begs to be answered.
We’re fire and passion. We’re tenderness and understanding.
We need each other. We belong together.
I hear the moan in my throat as his tongue meets mine and his hand slides up my back.
But I won’t feel guilty for this, our intense physical connection. This is part of what we are.
Micah breaks the kiss and sighs into my neck. “God, I’ve missed you, Tessie.”
A tear leaks out of the corner of my eye and I cling to him, tightening my arms around his neck, unwilling to be set down and released.
We’re far from perfect, both of us.
That doesn’t matter.
He’s everything I want.
And if he wants me too, then I’m his forever.
Micah’s hand tangles in my hair and his mouth finds my ear. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Are you sure?” Though I’m frantic to be alone with him, this is still his grandmother’s funeral.
“Go.” Dani’s voice is nearby. “That’s an order.”
I turn my head to find her beside her husband. Gage’s arm is draped over her shoulders and she leans into him with a wistful smile.
Gage’s free hand waves. “Get lost. Cecile would insist.”
I believe that’s true. Cecile loved Micah. She would tell him to grasp at happiness wherever he can find it, however it comes.
Micah has decided his cousin’s advice is good enough. He does set me down but immediately circles his arm around my waist while steering me toward the backyard gate.
Conner holds Total like a football and sits at a table with Charlotte. He’s receiving instructions on a complex board game with many plastic pastel pieces. He salutes us with amusement. Charlotte pauses to see what he’s looking at and waves. Henley sits at the same table and appears perplexed by the sight of us marching away, but he too waves with a smile.
