Page 232 of Holding On To Good

“You won’t lose me. You could never lose me.”

“I didn’t choose you,” he said, low and gruff and anguished. “You were right about that, too. I chose to stay with Miranda because I thought she was safe. Because it was a way for me to keep you in my life. I put my pride first and was an asshole to you both.” He stepped closer, lifting his hand and trailing his fingertips along her jaw. “And I know I said I’ll take you however I can get you—and I will—but if there’s even the slightest chance that you can forgive me, that you can see a future with me, I want you to know I choose you.” His voice dropped, going husky with emotion. “And if you let me, I promise to choose you every day for the rest of my life.”

She trembled, everything she wanted but had been so afraid of for so long was literally standing before her.

And it scared her to death.

It would be easy, so easy for her to tell him she couldn’t be with him. To let him be the only one opening himself up. The one telling all his truths while she silently accepted them without giving him anything back.

She could stay safe and hidden and continue lying to him, lying to herself. Things could go back to how they’d always been. Back to the way she’d been so desperate to hold on to.

She’d fought her feelings for him. Tried to ignore them. To deny them.

But some things were too powerful to fight. Too loud to ignore.

Too big to deny.

And she was tired of looking back. Tired of holding on to her lies, of letting the past dictate her future.

It was time to go forward.

“I was coming for you,” she blurted.

His eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”

She waved at the vicinity of the parking lot/restaurant without taking her eyes from him. Linked her hands together in a nervous knot at her waist. “Why I ran out of the building. It’s because I was coming to you. It’s because I was going to fight for you. Am going to fight for you. For us.” She took a deep breath but it still felt as if there was a band around her chest. “I love you. I want you to be my friend and my lover. But mostly… mostly, I want you to be my future.”

He pulled her to him and held her tight, pressed his face against her neck, his big body trembling as he murmured over and over, “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Tears once again flowing, she smoothed her fingers through his hair. Gently tugged his head up so she could look into his eyes when she told him what was in her heart. “I love you. I’ve loved you for half my life and I’m going to love you for the rest of it.”

He smiled, slow and easy and so achingly familiar, so full of joy, her heart threatened to burst in her chest. Then he kissed her, his hands cradling her face, his fingers unsteady on her cheeks. It was sweet and lingering.

It was a new beginning.

For so long, she’d tried to keep everything the same. But life was constantly changing. There were going to be triumphs and failures. Joy and grief.

And through it all, there’d be family and friendship. Forgiveness and acceptance.

Through it all, there’d be love.

There’d be Urban. By her side, like he’d been for so much of her life.

All because when she was a kid she’d gone and done the best, the smartest, the most wonderful thing she could ever do.

She’d fallen in love with her best friend.

Epilogue

“If I kill her,” Willow muttered through her teeth, “you’ll help me hide the body, right?”

Urban glanced at her. She was sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, the setting sun catching on her bright hair. “Or we could just write a change order and have her sign it,” he said, as he turned onto Boot Jack Road. “No murder required.”

Willow harrumphed. “Fine. But if she brings up switching out the kitchen counters—again—murder will definitely be required.”

“You do realize I can hear you,” Miranda said dryly through his truck’s speakers.

She’d called Willow not ten minutes ago about wanting to double the size of the master ensuite and Willow had patched her through the Bluetooth in his truck. It was a little like going back in time, hearing his ex-fiancée and his current girlfriend bicker and snipe at each other.

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