I wince. “Not my finest moment. I told Devon I wanted to send you a thank you gift.”
She huffs a laugh and bites her bottom lip. I want to tug it free with my thumb but resist.
“I love you, freckles,” I say again. I will say it every day for the rest of my life if she’ll let me.
Anya’s fingers hook around mine. I hold my breath as she twines our fingers together. “How do I know you won’t just leave me again?”
I nod. “I know, I messed up. I made the biggest mistake of my life. I’m so sorry Anya. I promise I won’t ever do it again.”
My thumb rubs against her knuckles, soaking her in. If this is the last time I get to touch her I want to be able to remember this feeling.
“Even if—” I take a deep breath. “Even if this is too much, and we can’t find a way to do this, you must know being with you has been the best time of my life.”
Her tongue peeks out and wets her lips. “You have to promise to let me in. No storming off when things get complicated, we have to talk through it.”
I nod, barely able to comprehend her words.
“And I’ll be working this new job in London, but I don’t want to be a secret anymore. If we’re doing this we’re done keeping it just us. I don’t want to have to hide you.”
“I don’t want to hide you either. I’ll hire some billboards and put your face on them so everyone can know.”
She laughs, the sound piercing my heart and causing it to beat again. “Well, maybe we don’t need to go that far.”
I place my hands on her thigh. “I’ll never keep us a secret again, I promise.”
She raises her hands and runs her fingers through my hair. It takes everything in me not to rub into her palm like a cat.
“I love you too, Danny. I have since you gave me your shoe to open a corked bottle of wine.”
I rest my forehead on hers. “Say it again?”
“I love you.”
My mouth crashes onto hers, tugging her to me until she’s crowded on my lap and where she belongs. Finally.
Epilogue
ANYA
I’ve never been VIP at a concert before but I will say it’s pretty cool. There’s no one crushing you from either side and the floor isn’t sticky. Heaven.
Rosie is jumping up and down like a madwoman, in between pinching my arm every time a famous face reaches for the champagne in the bucket beside her. She stares at me wide eyed after Jackson Harper winks at her from across the section. I laugh and tell her with my eyes that we can freak out in the bathroom later.
Danny’s arm comes around my waist as he hands Rosie and I our drinks. I reach up and kiss him. It’s so freeing to be able to do that whenever I want. After much deliberation in the group chat I started with Rosie, Pip and Cassie, we soft launched our relationship to the public with a picture I took at Claudette’s apartment. It was a story for a few days, before everyone moved on to something else.
The film in London wrapped up a few weeks ago, but I’ve already got a job lined up in LA to start in a few months. I’m nervous to make the move to the US, but Pip and Cassie have promised to hang out with me and Rosie and my mother are already planning a trip to visit. And of course, Danny will be there. He’s been stuck in the recording studio in LA for almost the entire time I’ve been filming in London, so the chance to share a space with him again is one I do not want to give up. It’s still a secret that he’s making the move to music, with only our closest friends knowing, but I can’t wait for the day he makes that final leap.
I lean back into Danny’s embrace, trying to ignore the phone cameras I can see pointing in our direction. The public curiosity into our relationship is something that I’m still trying to get used to, but I know now what it’s like to not be with him. A few candid pictures are worth it for moments like these.
I let my head fall against his firm chest, looping my hands around the arms he wraps around me. He holds me for a few minutes, swaying with me to the music before he kisses my cheek and says, “I’ll be back.”
I nod and let him go, turning back to Pip and Rosie as we sing along to the song.
This is my first time attending a Cassandra concert on this tour. Danny and I decided Paris would be the best show for us to see, for obvious reasons.
“Thank you Paris!” Cassie shouts from the stage. We all cheer, Pip managing to hit a pitch I didn’t think was humanly possible.
“Now I have a special treat for you guys.” Cassie says in between the roar of the crowd. “I don’t usually play this song because I can never do it justice. This last album wasn’t the easiest to write, until I was in this city.”
