And to my immense relief, her answer hasn’t changed.
“I want it to be real.”
She’s in my arms before I know what’s happening, and whether it was me who moved first or her, I couldn’t say. But none of that matters. I only care that Stella’s back where she belongs.
“I missed you,” she says against my neck, her breath warm on my skin as she clings to me. “I thought about you every second I was gone.”
“I haven’t been able to breathe since you left.” It’s only now that I can inhale deeply, her sweet citrus scent easing the last of the knots in my chest. “I’ve been waiting for you to come home.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me again.”
Horrified, I draw back enough so that she’s forced to look up at me. “How could you think that?”
Her dark eyes are anguished. “Because I hurt you and—”
“No, you didn’t,” I firmly cut her off. “You left because you had to clear a path for us. That didn’t hurt me. The idea that you might not come back did, but you’re here now.”
“You really don’t hate me for leaving?” she asks cautiously, but there’s a hint of hope in her expression.
“I could never hate you.” I tuck her hair behind her ear, fingers lingering on the corner of her jaw. “God, Stella, I’m fucking crazy about you. You must know that, right?”
Finally, the corners of her lips start to flicker up. “I’m starting to get the idea. But…maybe you could tell me more?”
There she is—there’s my girl. “I’m crazy about your smile,” I say, “your laugh, your fucked-up sense of humor. I’m crazy about how you come off so confident, even when you don’t feel that way, but just by faking it you have the whole world eating out of the palm of your hand…Should I go on?”
She squeezes me tighter, gazing up into my face like she doesn’t ever want to look away. “Keep going.”
I’ll happily oblige. “I’m crazy about how caring and considerate you are. How you’ve tried so hard to help me, to make my life better in so many big and little ways. How you always make me want to do and be better—to ask for better.” Leaning down, I press a kiss to the spot right below her ear. It earns me that little shiver I love, but most importantly, it’s a guarantee that she won’t miss what I have to say next. “I’m crazy about everything you are, Stella.”
She gives a small, contented sigh, melting against my chest. “So…does that mean you want this to be real too?”
That drags a laugh out of me. How could this mean anything else? But I’ll give her whatever reassurance she wants and needs. I’ll do it every single day until it soaks in so deeply that she never doubts it. “Yes, I want this to be real. I want us to give this a real shot.”
“Good,” she whispers, lips trailing up my neck. “Because I can’t imagine my life without you anymore. No one else is you. And you’re everything I want. Everything I could have ever dreamed of.”
My head spins, blood rushing so hard and fast I can hear my pulse in my ears, spreading joy to every cell of my body. Still, I try to play it as cool as I can. “Then I guess we should go getmarried. Again. Really solidify this commitment to a real relationship, you know?”
Stella laughs, and the sound settles around my heart. “We’ve gotta stop doing all this stuff out of order,” she says. “So, what, we’re getting married so we can…date?”
“You have something against dating your husband?” I ask in mock offense.
She shakes her head, hands lifting to cup my jaw. “I would love to date my husband. See where it goes.”
I lean into her touch. “We don’t have to rush into anything. We can take this as slow as you want.”
“I don’t want to take ittooslow,” she warns. “We’ve been waiting long enough for some things.”
I agree, but I’ll be taking this at Stella’s pace. I’m content to just be on the ride together.
“You’re right,” I murmur, eyes dropping to her mouth. “There are some things wereallyneed to do.”
She’s slowly dragging my face down, and I don’t resist. Our lips are bare centimeters apart when she whispers, “I think we should start here.”
I’m the one who closes the distance this time, our lips meeting sweet and slow. It’s the perfect way to seal our promises to each other. It’s the taste of her I’ve been hungry for in the weeks we’ve been strangers. It’s everything I need.
And so is she.
Chapter 34
