Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 33965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
"She'll call you later," he says and then hangs up on my sister before dropping my phone to the seat beside him. "Look at me, Éire."
"I…" I shake my head, afraid I'm going to cry if I look at him. "I don't understand," I whisper. "Why would you do this, Crue?"
"Look at me, Ireland."
I reluctantly lift my gaze to him, sad and confused and afraid and a million different things that just make me want to freaking cry. I knew sooner or later they'd find out about us and our bubble would burst. I've been bracing myself for it since he told me we were married. But I never expected that he'd be the one who tipped them off. I never thought it'd be this soon.
"Last night, you told me you were afraid that all of this would end when they found out about us," he says, holding my gaze. "I'm not going to let you live with that fear, Ireland."
"So you just decided to go ahead and break my heart now?" I cry. "You could have done it before you slept with me, Crue. Or before you told me that you loved me." I glare at him. "Or before I asked my sister to be my maid of honor at our second wedding."
"You asked Shelby to be your maid of honor?"
"It doesn't matter now."
"It matters more than ever, Éire," he disagrees. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. I didn't tell them because I'm leaving you. I didn't tell them because I want this to end. I told them because I want you to know that this is permanent. We're forever, sweet girl. It doesn't matter who knows because it won't change a goddamn thing about us."
"You don't know that," I whisper.
"I do know that. I know you, and I know how I feel about you. That's not going to change today, tomorrow, or fifty years from now." He cups my cheek, running his hand beneath the bottom of my glasses. "You stole my fucking heart, and you're not giving it back, Ireland. I won't accept it. It's yours, baby. It'll always be yours."
"Crue." A tear slips down my cheek. "Are you serious? There's a no-return policy on your heart?"
"Yeah, Éire." He grins at me. "There's a no-return policy. So I'm going to need you to stop crying because it's breaking me. And we have a statement to make to all those people out there before I can get you alone."
I stare at him for a long moment, trying to process and pull myself together. He means it, I know he does. I think the biggest part of me has known from the beginning that this was permanent for him too. But when you have something that means so much to you, you're afraid to lose it. That's human nature.
We cling tight to the things we love, terrified that they'll slip through our fingers. And I don't want this man slipping through mine. I don't want to wake up without him. I don't want to go to sleep without him. I don't want to spend my days without him. I don't want to be without him, period.
I understand the song he was writing on the bus the other day. Maybe a little too well. Because if I ever lost him, I don't think I'd be able to breathe either. But that's not the future in store for either of us.
Ours is bright. How can it not be with a freaking superstar lighting the way?
"Let's do it," I whisper.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." I nod, throwing caution to the wind and letting it carry the rest of my fear away with it as I slip my hand into his. He rewards me with my favorite lazy smirk, pulling open the door to the limo.
I let him pull me out…and lead me into our forever.
"You're all mine now, sweet girl," he breathes thirty minutes later, crawling over me in our bed. We're both naked, our clothes in a heap on the floor. They landed there as soon as we crossed the threshold.
The whole world knows about us now…or they will as soon as they log online. He made his statement to the stations outside the hotel with me in his arms. Yes, the news is true. Yes, we're married. Yes, he's happier than he's ever been. They shouted a million questions at us. He didn't answer any of them. He said what he had to say, kissed me as dozens of cameras recorded the moment, and then swung me up into his arms, carrying me inside.
The hotel staff and the police made a human shield behind us, blocking the entrance to the hotel after we went in. I don't think anyone else will be getting in anytime soon.
"Just now?" I ask Crue, looping my arms around his neck. "That's odd. I thought I was all yours all along."