Page 65 of The Expiration Date

As fireworks go off in Times Square, some are exploding in my belly, desperately wanting to reveal themselves to the man who just professed his love for me.

And yet, my defenses shut down every firework like water to flames. Who does he think he is?

I shake my head and halfway scoff, trying to reconstruct my walls in mere seconds, walls that I worked so hard to rebuild since he broke them down the last time. “Classic Aidan Stone, thinking you can walk in here on New Year’s Eve and expect to win me back. Just tell me that you love me and think that will work? Well I have news for you, Stone, it’s going to take a lot more than that to ever win me back. This isn’t the movies.” I cross my arms once more and hope he won’t see through my bullshit. At this moment I wish I were the actor, convincing the audience that what I am saying is true.

But that’s the thing about Aidan. He could always see right through my pretenses.

Aidan inches even closer to me. His lips are almost touching mine as Auld Lang Syne plays in the background.

Stay strong, Haley. Stay strong.

“No, babe,” Aidan says softly. “This is real life. I want everything that happens after the happily-ever-after. I want to be the man your dad told you to be with. The one who regards you as his whole world. And just for the record, I plan to remind you of all the ways that I adore the ground you walk on until you forgive me. I plan to love every part of you…no matter how long it takes, because you are worth fighting for. You are more than enough for me. You are my entire universe, Hales.”

I can feel his lips slightly brush against mine. That is it, I am done for.

“Dammit Aidan, you say things like that and…” I look up at his pleading, blissfully hopeful eyes, trying to blink away tears in my eyes in the process.

“And what, beautiful?” Aidan places his hand on my jaw and lightly runs the tips of his fingers through my hair. He has me and he knows it.

“...you make it impossible for me to not love you, too.”

And there it is. The radiant smile I’ve desperately missed all of these months of being apart. The smile that lights up my world, no matter what is going on any given day. The smile of the man I am irrevocably and unreservedly in love with.

Aidan closes the miniscule gap between us and presses his lips to mine. And my god have I missed his warm, soft lips on mine. Even though we have kissed so many times before, this one feels different. It is loaded with so many I’m sorry’s on both ends, so many unfiltered desires, so many hopes for the future. This kiss isn’t for a show. This kiss isn’t for the cameras.

This kiss is for us.

I try to pull away so I can look at Aidan, but he doesn’t let me. He grasps the back of my head and pulls me in closer, making it near impossible to escape his lips. It was stupid of me to even try because it is finally our turn to have the fairytale kiss. The kiss all the little girls and teenagers see and wish they would have one day. The kiss that makes you melt with every movement. The kiss that signals to your heart that this is it. The kiss that makes you think you are in the best dream ever and you don’t want to wake up. This is a kiss that writers write about in romances. Except I am about to wake myself up for another realization that flashes in my brain. I reluctantly break our kiss and say, almost breathlessly, “It was you.”

That mischievous smirk returns, only this time, Aidan’s teal eyes are on fire, hungrily awaiting my lips to return to his. After he doesn’t respond, I add, “You were the one who greenlit my manuscript.”

“No, Netflix greenlit your manuscript. I was simply the messenger.” Then he squints his eyes like he is trying to remember something difficult. “And maybe I said a thing or two about how it would be the biggest mistake of their lives if they didn’t give you a shot. And I told them to never mention that I brought them the manuscript or else I would back out as a producer indefinitely.”

Producer? Suddenly it is all making sense. He worried I wouldn’t accept the offer if I knew it was because of him. But now, knowing that he played a major part in getting my script into the right hands–it makes all of it so much sweeter. He knew why I moved out to L.A. in the first place. Other than escaping my past, it was to start a future as a writer. He literally made my dream come true.

“I don’t know what to say or do to repay you. I don’t deserve you.”

“You don’t have to say or do anything, Hales. And when are you going to get it through that stubborn head of yours–it’s not that you don’t deserve me. It’s quite the opposite, baby girl–it’s me who doesn’t deserve you. And I will live out the rest of my days wondering why the universe conspired with me to find you. I’m just so grateful that it did.”

Even though at this point I sense that cameras are flashing, videos are being taken, and eyes are glued to our scene, I don’t care. I realize that no matter how many people are yelling our names to look at them for a picture, no matter how many exes try to weasel their way back into our lives, no matter what the tabloids claim, I have found my home with Aidan. He is my safe space. He is the one who grounds me when I feel like spiraling out of control with my anxiety and intrusive thoughts–he silences them.

He is the one I want to call mine.

I slide my arms up around Aidan’s neck and tiptoe slightly to reach his lips. I squeal when Aidan cups my ass and lifts me into his arms. I wrap my legs around his immaculate torso, and he grabs the back of my neck to ensure that my lips never leave his–so passionate, so demanding. I want to get completely lost in his kisses for the rest of time. His lips, his tongue, the sounds he makes when I kiss him with equal measure all consume me.

And I will happily let his kisses consume me, because I’m not planning on leaving behind this man ever again.

Whether he knows it or not, he is my rainbow in this crazy storm of life, too.

EPILOGUE

Ifeel the slobber from Ginny’s tongue on my nose, which unfortunately wakes me up from one of the best dreams I’ve probably ever had. I am too scared to say it outloud for fear of jinxing it away. I want it to happen in real life someday and hopefully Aidan does, too.

I walked over to the windows and open the blackout curtains that Aidan installed for me when I moved in, and take in the sight of skyscrapers and tons of cars and people down on the street.

Yep, that’s right. We moved in together.

Aidan is still in the hunt for a new assistant. He is so stubborn about choosing someone he can trust, especially since the person he trusted most in the world is now his steady girlfriend of almost a year. Aidan decided that he wanted to take a hiatus for a few months and be back in New York until he was ready to return to work in L.A. He has been getting non-stop offers after his last film and honestly, since we started dating the press hasn’t shut up about it.

---