Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Then I’ll be closer to you.”
“Ciaran.”
“Lou,” I say back, squeezing her hand. “I found myself in you, and it scared the living shit out of me, but all this made me realize that it scares me more to live a second without you.”
I move to the side of the bed, sitting close so our bodies touch. I bend over her, trapping her head with my hands against the mattress. As she looks up at me, I can see all the beautiful emotions in her eyes. Love, acceptance, bliss… Joy. Our love.
My heart.
Overwhelmed by emotion, I lean my head to hers, our noses touching while we stare into each other’s eyes. My voice is rough as I say, “I thought you left me.”
She gives me a dark look. “I would never.”
“I know that, but still, it scared me. Then I got the call that you’d been in an accident, and all I could think was I knew you were too good to be true.”
“I’m here. I’m yours…just a little broken.”
“So, I’ll hold you together until you feel whole.”
Her eyes sparkle with unshed tears. “When I’m with you, I’m whole.”
“Exactly,” I agree, catching her tears that fall. “That bastard owned you like a possession. Now, you’ll be my equal because you love me enough to choose to be mine forever. If you want my forever.”
Louisa’s breath catches, her tears falling quicker down her round cheeks. “I do. I truly do.”
I blink, overwhelmed by her admission. Chills run down my spine, my gut curls with heat, and I’m stunned to silence.
She cups my cheek with her good arm, running her thumb along my jaw. “I don’t like accidents, especially the kinds that involve trucks running into me.”
“Yeah. Zero stars,” I say with a chuckle.
“Do not recommend,” she agrees, her eyes still burning into mine. “But I love that we accidentally got each other the same muffin, and that was the moment I chose to love you for the rest of my existence.”
My heart jumps into my throat, and I cover her hand with my own. “I would miss every game for you.”
She beams at me. “I wouldn’t let you.”
Unable to resist, I kiss her. I capture her sweet lips with mine, heat burning throughout me and my heart pounding so fucking hard, it hurts. But I welcome it.
It means this is real.
We’re real.
She runs her tongue along my lips, and I groan against her mouth. She takes advantage of my parted lips and swirls her tongue with mine. She tastes like the applesauce she ate earlier, and the tears that spring to my eyes are from not being able to taste her lips in four days. I needed this. I needed her.
The reassurance.
I move back, and she whines in protest, trying to pull me to her, but I resist this time. “I think that since I can’t do anything, you should at least let me kiss you whenever I want.”
“No complaint from me when I’m not trying to profess my love to you.”
I swear she has hearts in her eyes, the lopsided grin that covers her lips just for me. “I know you love me, Ciaran.”
“Sure, but did you know that I want to spend my days reassuring you that I’ll never love anyone else but you and chasing away every bad thought that plagues you?”
Her grin falters, only a bit, as her eyes shine for me. “I didn’t know that.”
“I do,” I say, rubbing her injured hand with my thumb but never breaking eye contact. “When I’m not reassuring you with words, I will make love to you. And when you need more, I’ll give you whatever you need. I want to love you through all our accidents, good and bad.”
“Ciaran,” she breathes just as a tear escapes down my cheek. She wipes it quickly, her eyes a deep bluish-green, shining with love. “I want all that. I do. Only with you.”
I feel like I can’t breathe; I’m lost in her eyes. Lost in the love she has only for me. I wish I had prepared better, but how was I supposed to know she’d get hit by a truck and I’d be asking for her love for the rest of my life? “I don’t have a ring.”
“You don’t need one.”
Inside my chest, my heart skids to a halt for her, and my breathing stops as I stay trapped in her beautiful gaze. “I love you, Lou.”
“I love you,” she promises, and I kiss her again, needing to feel her lips. Needing her to encourage me that this is really what she wants. That she wants me. That she’ll always want me.
As we part, our eyes lock, and I let out a heavy sigh. A small, shy smile forms on my lips, but when she smiles, I feel like I’m on top of the world. “Give me your future, Lou. Let me help shape it into something our kids, grandkids, and beyond will speak of. Something they’ll be as proud of as I know we will be. Be at every one of my games you can make it to. Let me put away books with you. Let’s make the big plans, because I want nothing more than to make a life with you. You are the heroine in my story, Lou. Let me love you like your favorite book boyfriend.” Tears stream down her cheeks, and I go to wipe them away, but then I notice something in her hair. I reach for the straw paper that’s stuck in her strands. I lift her left hand, wrapping the paper around her ring finger and then twisting the ends so it’s a makeshift—yes, also cheap and maybe a bit tacky—ring, but when I look up at her, she’s beaming just for me. Her eyes ease my guilt over not having a ring, and then the words leave my mouth just as quickly as I get the puck off my blade. “Will you marry me, Louisa?”