Page 129 of The Edge of Never

They turned their head to meet my gaze.

“Yes?”

I ran my eyes all over their face, taking in their eyes, their nose, their lips, and every freckle.

They wrinkled their nose and nudged me with their shoulder.

“What is it?”

I smiled before cupping their face and running a thumb over their bottom lip. It might not be the perfect time, but there was no such thing as perfect timing. Kit coming here had taught me that. And in my head, there was no better moment than right then to tell them exactly how I felt.

“I love ye.”

Forty One

Kit

It took a long minute for the words Thane spoke to register. And when they did, my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. I couldn’t speak as my throat got all clogged up. But what I could do was kiss him. So that’s what I did.

I turned around completely, cupped his cheek, and pressed my mouth to his. Thane responded immediately, kissing me back with such tenderness, I thought I would burst into tears. But no, I wasn’t going to cry. I was happy. He loved me back. It wasn’t something I expected, but I was ecstatic he felt the way I did all the same.

When he released my mouth, he brushed my lip with his thumb again.

“Ye okay?”

I nodded, still struggling to speak my thoughts out loud. It happened sometimes when things got a little too much. Rather than force myself to verbalise my feelings, I pointed at myself, drew a heart with my fingers and then pointed at him.

“Ye love me tae.”

I nodded again. He smiled, clearly understanding that I was struggling to communicate. And I loved him even more for that. Thane would never make me speak for his benefit. He’d shown me that he would accommodate my disability in whatever way I needed.

“I didnae think it was nuts or tae fast when ye said it earlier, no when I feel the same. Nothing aboot us is tae fast, no after what we went through together.”

He had a point. We had gone through a lot together in a short time.

“But we can talk aboot all of that when ye’re ready. Am just gonnae hold ye.”

I buried my face in his chest and appreciated how much patience he had. The way he cared. How could he have ever thought he wasn’t enough when he was everything I could have ever wanted? Although, I supposed I did know why. His family hadn’t been all that great to him in the wake of Jenna’s death, not to mention the things she said to him before it happened. By his own admission, he was still working through that stuff. I’d do what I could to support him now that we were together, but it wouldn’t have mattered if we weren’t. I’d have done it anyway.

When my racing mind calmed down and my emotions were less intense, I pulled back and rested my head on Thane’s arm. He had his eyes closed. I watched him for a long moment. The way his eyelashes fluttered slightly against his cheeks. Those freckles all over his face made him more attractive in my eyes. His hair was glinting in the low light since he had only turned on a bedside lamp. He knew I wasn’t a fan of the big light. This man was beautiful through and through. I loved his mind. I loved his kindness. I just loved him.

“How are things with your parents?”

I wanted to check if he’d made any progress with them. I could tell it weighed heavily on him after our conversation about what I had overhead when they were here.

He slowly opened his eyes. The soft look in them had my heart racing.

“They’re better. We had a long talk and they apologised for making me feel like they didnae see me. They’ve been trying, and that’s improved oor relationship… and I told them aboot ye.”

“You did?”

“Aye. Dad didnae understand why I didnae just ask Callan for yer number tae tell ye how I feel. I didnae tell him I wasnae feeling like I was enough for ye.”

“You’re not just enough, you’re more.”

He blushed, which I found incredibly adorable.

“Aye, well, I know that noo.”

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