“I wanted to hear it from you, Noah. All of the things you were saying as Loren were so beautiful and lovely, but they weren’t fromyou.I couldn’t tell if you were trying to tell me something, or just staying in character, or…” I exhale sharply. “Even now, I still don’t know. But for everything to still be up in the air between us while Jaylie and Loren get their happy ending, I just—I think we deserve…” It doesn’t feel right to saya happy ending,because what I really want with Noah is a happy beginning, isn’t it? An adventure we agree to embark on together, without knowing where we’ll end up.
I stop playing with my ring and take his hands in each of mine. “You deserve to know where I stand,” I finish. “So, I’m staying, with or without you. But I hope it’s with you.”
Noah lets my words float in the air around us, lingering in the space between us. Once he’s sure I’ve said all I need to, his thumbs come to rest on my temples as he threads his fingers into my hair.
“Oh, Sadie.”
His kiss is gentle—just the barest brush of his lips against mine—before he draws back again. But whatever he’s about to say, I’m not ready to hear it yet.
Even now, I still want more.
I curl my fingers around his wrists and capture his mouth with mine again. I want to sink my teeth into his lower lip, to taste him, to tie him to this moment and this place—
But just like always, Noah meets my frantic, restless energy with steady, slow assurance. Without pulling away, he rises from his chair. The palm of one hand presses against the side of my neck as his fingers stretch to circle my jaw, and he tilts my face up toward his as the other hand folds around my shoulder and guides me back until I’m lying on his bed. With one knee pressed to the inside of my thigh, he parts my legs and climbs on top of me. Although he braces his elbows to either side of my head, the deliciously heavy weight of his hips pins me underneath him.
His kisses are deep and slow, but there’s an insistence in them that steals my breath. Every time the tide seems to pull back, when I think we might take a moment to breathe, he surges forward again, his tongue tangling with mine as his arms wind around my ribs and pull me close. In the back of my head, I get the sense again that he’s trying to communicate something to me, his lips moving against mine in a language he’s teaching me how to speak. But I can’t yet tell whether the iron circle of his arms around me meansI’m here, I’ve got you—or if it’s the last embrace before he finally lets me go.
I feel his smile before I see it. It’s tucked neatly into the corner of his mouth, right where my lips skim along his dimple.
I draw back and blink up at him. “What?”
He rests his head against my brow, his beard tickling my cheek. “I already told Dan last week,” he murmurs against my ear.
“Told him what?”
“That I’m not going back to Colorado. I want to stay, too.”
Lightness fills my chest. If it weren’t for Noah pressing me into the mattress, I might float right up to the ceiling. I draw back from him, just enough so that I can see his eyes—so that I can watch his expression soften. My voice comes out breathless. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were in New York,” he says gently. “You had a decision of your own to make, and I didn’t want to add any pressure to that.”
I swallow. “The boxes?”
“Are Dan’s. He’s leaving for Boulder in a few weeks.” He laughs as my eyes immediately narrow. “Well, most of them are Dan’s. Some are mine. I’ll spend a few weeks in the van, until I find a new place to stay.”
“What about Alchemist?”
I’ve never seen Noah’s eyes this bright. “It’s mine now.” His voice is a hushed, excited whisper. “While he’s in Colorado, I’m the manager. He’s left it all to me.”
I can’t help the way my mouth hangs open. “All of your late nights, the extra prep he’s had you doing—”
“Yes.”
So many words crowd my throat that I hardly know what to say. But I grow still as Noah’s palms rise to cup my face again, anchoring me as only he can. The lake blue of his eyes goes liquid as he trains his unblinking gaze on mine. “Listen. Hear it from me, Sadie. This is not a fantasy, or a one-off adventure, or just a bard’s declaration. This is real.” He presses his forehead to mine. “I won’t go anywhere without you by my side. I’m tired of running, and this is the only place I want to be. Right now, this…” He sweeps his thumb in an arc across my cheek. “This feels like home.”
I press my fingers to the bare skin of his chest, feeling how his heart beats against my palms. The smile sneaks up on me, stretching wide until my cheeks ache with it. But I can’t make it go away.
“It grows on you, doesn’t it?” I murmur.
“What does?”
“This place. This town.”
“Not just the town, Sadie.”
Noah’s fingertips glide under the hem of my shirt as he presses his lips to my forehead. “I can’t promise that I won’t want to leave again one day to explore, or to try something new. If that time comes, I hope you’ll come, too. But for tonight—” His arm snakes under my neck, cradling my head in the crook of his elbow. His damp hair shrouds half of his face, his eyes half-lidded in the dark. “Will you stay with me?”
“I will,” I promise. “I’ll stay.”
