Page 47 of Something True


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Suddenly, I wanted to cry, but this time, it wasn't with sadness. I opened my mouth, but was too choked up to speak.

Into my silence, he said it again, "Marry me." He gave my hands another squeeze. "Say yes."

Finally, I felt myself nod. And then, I couldn’t help but smile. My voice, when I found it, was just above a whisper. "Yes."

The word had barely left my lips when Joel practically jumped to his feet and pulled me into his arms. A choked sound escaped my lips. But I wasn't crying. I was laughing – with relief, with surprise, and with so much happiness that I could hardly think.

This was real.Andit was a dream. How incredible was that?

Together, we stood in the open doorway, letting the heat out, and the cold in. But I didn't care. I couldn’t help but tease, "If this is a dream, I'm going to be so mad."

"You'rethe dream." His voice grew quiet, and he pulled back, gazing deep into my eyes. "I don't deserve you, but I'm gonna spend the rest of my life trying." With that, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to mine, tenderly at first, and then with an intensity that left me trembling with a new-found need.

This was better than a reunion. It was like he'd never left, like nothing bad had ever happened, and like nothing or no one could ever tear us apart. Pulling back, he picked me up, kicked the door shut behind us, and carried me up the stairs, just like he'd done on our very first time.

As we celebrated in the most intimate way, he told me loved me at least a hundred times, and I said the same thing right back, over and over, until I was too lost to say much of anything.

Later that morning, as we lay together in a naked, happy embrace, I couldn't help but compare this time to the last time, in the darkened parking lot outside that nondescript warehouse.

In its own way, that time had been amazing too. And probably, if it hadn't ended in such heartbreak, I would've spent an embarrassing amount of time reliving it in my fantasies, if not in real life.

Still smiling, I drifted off with my head on his chest and his arm wrapped protectively around my naked back, only to wake up who-knows-how-long later in an empty bed, listening to the sounds of angry male voices somewhere in the house below.

I sat up and threw aside the covers. One of the voices was definitely Joel's. I listened more carefully.Damn it.The other one was Derek's.

And the way it sounded, they were ready to kill each other.