She opens the passenger door, slides in, and turns to me with that familiar crooked grin. “Hey, rockstar.” she says, soft and sure, like she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
My voice fails. My heart doesn’t.
She frowns slightly. “Too much?”
I manage to shake my head. “No.” My voice comes out low, rough. “You’re... you’re beautiful.”
She bites her lip, ducking her head. “I feel like me again.”
I reach across the console and take her hand. My thumb brushes over her knuckles, anchoring myself to the feel of her. “You look like her,” I say, my voice barely a whisper. “The girl who stole my heart in the middle of a field and never gave it back.”
She squeezes my hand. “I think she’s finally starting to remember how much she loved you.”
She squeezes my hand again, and for a moment, neither of us speaks. The world hums quietly around us—cars passing, the faint buzz of the city—but in here, it’s just us. A bubble we haven’t had in too long. Her fingers trace slow circles over mine, and I know that look in her eyes.
She’s thinking.
Feeling.
Deciding.
“Logan,” she says, and my name on her lips is a balm and a blade all at once. “Thank you… for waiting.”
“I’d wait forever.”
She breathes out a shaky laugh, and before I can say another word, she leans across the center console and kisses me.
Soft. Intentional. No hesitation.
My breath catches, every part of me tightening under the weight of that one touch. Her lips are warm, familiar in a way I didn’t realize I’d missed so damn deeply. She kisses me like it’s the first time all over again—sweet but certain, her hand slipping to my jaw like she needs to feel that I’m real.
I don’t move. I don’t dare.
This is hers to give.
When she finally pulls back, her forehead rests against mine, her breath mingling with mine, her smile small but sure.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you in the kitchen,” she whispers.
“Yeah?” I whisper back, my voice rough. “Because I’ve been dying for it.”
She laughs again, this time a little lighter. Her hand lingers on my cheek.
“So, now what?” she asks.
I smile, heart full. “Now? We drive. Windows down. Your hair blowing like hell. And I fall for you all over again.”
Her eyes shimmer, lips curving. “You’re gonna make me cry, Logan Dale.”
“Then let me make you laugh instead,” I say, kissing her knuckles. “But first, I’m gonna kiss you back.”
And I do—slow, deep, and reverent.
Because this moment?
It’s everything.
Chapter 13
