Page 93 of Endeavor
I know when Mom and Andy exit their limo because all the energy goes straight over to them. I squeeze Emma’s hand, and we walk into the building.
“Excited?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, for the hundredth time, yes.” She leans up and kisses my cheek. “But thank you for caring.”
I place a hand on her cheek, stopping her from turning away and I press my lips to hers. She closes her eyes and sighs against me. Fuck, this woman does things to me.
After a second, I realize Andy is clearing his throat behind us. Emma giggles and her face turns pink as she turns to them, embracing Andy, Dorothea, and Mom. “Thank you so much for coming today. It totally makes this even more memorable for me.”
“You’re very welcome, dear. We wouldn’t have missed this, as your advisors,” Mom says with a wink.
“We’re so proud of you,” Andy says before we are ushered into the theater.
The audience quiets as the documentary starts to play. Emma squeezes my hand the entire time. Halfway through, I place her hand in my lap and put my other hand on top of hers. She doesn’t look my way as she watches the audience’s reactions to her work. When the lights come up and the audience cheers, I can see the tears well in her eyes. I hug her before anyone else can.
“I’m so fucking proud of you. Whether you win an award at this festival or not, you did it. You really did it,” I whisper in her ear.
She pulls back and looks up at me, placing her hand on my chest over my heart. “I’ve had so many endeavors this year, school, this documentary, working through trauma. And I’ve accomplished them all, because you’ve been by my side.”
I gaze into her eyes. There is such truth and honesty in them. I feel unshed tears in my own eyes now at the power of her words. I lean down so we are forehead to forehead. “There is no greater endeavor than learning how to unconditionally love, and I’ve only accomplished that because of you.”
Tears fall from her eyes, running down her cheeks. I capture them with my thumbs, brushing them away.
“I love you, Grady Daniels,” she whispers only loud enough for me to hear it. “I love you with all my heart.”
“I love you back,” I reply as I plant a quick kiss on her lips. When I pull back as I squeeze her hips, my dirty mind getting the better of me. I lean back to whisper in her ear, “Are there checkered panties under your dress? Because if there are, we should move our celebration into a more private space.”
I hear her breath hitch and her skin flushes. I know the answer before she speaks.
“I guess you’ll have to find out when we get back to the hotel room,” she says with a wink and a smirk. She quickly turns to talk to everyone around her.
I stand back and watch as my fiancée gets all the praise that she so well deserves. She’s amazing, and she’s all mine. Learning how to love might have been my unintended endeavor but being with her is far beyond any goal or wish I could have dreamt. Wherever the road takes us from here, we’ll be alright because we have each other.
