It hits me then, that maybe I’ve had it wrong.
Maybe Georgia’s need to run when shit gets scary isn’t because she’s afraid of me going all in—it’s because she’s afraid she’s falling alone.
Maybe she needs the reassurance that what’s between us isn’t one-sided.
Don’t know if it’s love yet. Don’t know if I’d recognize love if it hit me in the chest. The only time I ever thought I had it was with a woman who turned out to be more manipulator than partner. A woman who lied to me, used me, and weaponized her pain in ways I’m still untangling.
Did Marlee ever love me? Did she even know how?
Doesn’t matter. Not anymore.
All that matters is Georgia. This moment. This woman sitting in front of me, holding on with her fingernails and heart.
“I want you, Georgia Walker,” I say, voice low and steady. “In a big, scary kind of way.”
Her eyes widen, lips parting, but I’m not done.
“Called you mine the other night, and I meant it. Want your softness and sass. Your stubborn mouth and your tendency to overthink everything. Want the girl who’s had to fight for herself every goddamn step of the way. Want the woman who never got chosen and still shows up for everyone else anyway. I want the parts of you that you think make you too much—your fear, your fire, all of it.”
Her chest rises in a sharp breath, tears flooding her eyes so fast it nearly unravels me.
“I’m not sayin’ I’ve got it all figured out,” I admit, brushing a tear from her cheek with my knuckle. “And I’m not sayin’ I know what comes next. But I know what I want. And it’s you. Aurora. Us.”
“But…” Her head shakes. “What happens when my contract ends?”
My stomach flips and turns, heart kicking at the thought.
Don’t want her to leave. Not now, not never.
But that’s not my choice.
If she doesn’t find what she’s looking for in Heart Springs, she might leave and never come back. Part of me wants to run out right now and dig hard for her roots just so I have something solid to give her.
Georgia has to want this, though.
Has to be in this with me.
I’ll fight tooth and nail for this woman, but she’s gotta fight at my side.
If I learned anything from my past, it’s that a person who wants to go, will go. One way or another, they’ll find an exit and bolt through it first chance they get—no matter what, orwhothey’re leaving behind.
Tried to be everything I could be for Marlee. Tried to show her that I was worth choosing. But she chose herself, and from what Ethel said, she kept making the same choice ‘till the day she died.
Didn’t want to fall into someone who had a foot out the door… tried to avoid it. But Georgia isn’t just someone, and ignoring what I feel for her is as useless as it is painful. All I can do is hope this shit doesn’t blow up in my face eventually.
“Can’t force you to stay,” I rasp, pressing a kiss on the corner of her lips, body shuddering. “But I want you to. Want you to pick this place, this town, this house.”Me. Us.“But I can’t ask you to do that. You gotta want it, baby.”
“I… I do.” An audible swallow. “I still have a few months left before I have to make any decisions.”
I nod. “Then we take it day by day.”
“Day by day,” she whispers, shoulders falling an inch. “I can do that.”
There’s a million things I wanna say. Questions I want answered, promises I want made. But if this little thing is all shecan offer today, I’ll fuckin’ take it. Take it with both greedy hands and hold onto it like a man possessed.
Because where she’s concerned, pretty sure I am.
“Okay,” I murmur, leaning in, hands tight on her face. “One day at a time.”
