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“I’m sorry that I drove you away. I was hurt, and I overreacted. I didn’t want you solving my problems with money. Honestly, I was stunned that you have so much of it.”
“Everything I said and did, I meant it, love. You claimed you didn’t know the real me, but youdo. You understand everything about me, better than anyone.”
“I get that, but…you can’t lie to me again. That’s not the kind of relationship I want. And if I’m ever to trust you again fully, I need a promise.”
“That I’ll always be honest? You have it. You’ll be the first person I tell when I have news, good or bad. I won’t hide anything from you anymore.” Eli paused, taking a deep breath. “This is hard to talk about, but…I’ve always been really…self-contained. I have a hard time getting the words out, especially when I’m nervous. I have a history of running away from things. Honestly, I tried five or six times when we were in school…”
“To do what?” she asked.
“To talk to you. To give back your bracelet. But every damn time,I chickened out and ran away. That’s who I was, until moving into Violet Gables. I had money, yeah. And I know it upset you, finding out as you did. But success didn’t make me happy. Living with you and everyone else? That was the first time that I felt at home.”
“You probably don’t understand how sick I felt…when I found out I’d cost you such a big deal. I just—”
“That doesn’t matter,” he cut in. “You’re the most important person in the world to me. And I have plenty of money already. I just want to be with you. If you can forgive me. “ Eli paused, gazing earnestly into her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I swear I’ll never hide anything from you ever again.”
She took a deep breath. “I believe you. And now I feel like I bring something to the table. Something you can’t get from anyone else. I can hawk with you. I mean, I’ll always let you go for a solo flight, but if you want someone in the sky with you, I’m there.”
Eli really couldn’t believe this was happening. “I’ll never want to fly alone if I have the choice. I always want you with me. I’m so sorry that I disregarded your wishes and tried to solve your problems for you. But…I don’t really understand why it’s okay that Rain and Fen did.”
Iris smiled. “This might not track for anyone else, but…their power ismypower. I’m fae. So it doesn’t feel like someone else solved it. This is my heritage, and Violet Gables ismyhome. Does that make sense?”
He nodded. “When you put it that way, yeah.”
“We should get out there and explain everything to Liz,” Iris said.
But he noticed she didn’t sound too eager, and her gaze lingered on his mouth.
“Liz can wait. We should make up properly, now that everything has been cleared up and we agree that we belong together.”
“We agree on that, do we?” she asked in a teasing tone.
“Don’t we?”
This amazing, magical person wanted to be with him. Somehow he couldn’t wrap his head around it—didn’t make sense that he should be so lucky—that the first thing she did with her newly awoken fae powers was fly straight to his arms. As if sensing his thoughts, Iris snuggled closer, tracing a path down his left cheek with a delicate fingertip.
“Yes.” She was breathless, smiling up at him.
“I love you, you know.” He couldn’t hold the words back any longer. The warmth and joy of being able to tell her, at long last, felt like a shooting star.
“I love you too. So much.”
“Thank you for coming back to me,” he added.
“And…I still think it’s weird that you remembered me all those years, but it also makes me happy, you know? Something I did mattered. When I think about you carrying my bracelet around, I get all teary.”
“Really?”
“I’ve cried over you more than once,” she joked.
Her teasing melted under the heat of his kiss. “Do you want me?”
“More than anything.”
After that, there was no more talking, just endless kisses and touches and the joy of two bodies becoming one.
CHAPTER THIRTY
THANKSGIVING, A WEEK LATER
