Page 102 of Falling for Autumn Again

“Today,” I say. “I went after I finished at your mom’s place.”

“And you didn’t tell me? Sure, I think it’s an idiotic idea. Sure, it goes against everything we said about never seeing him again, but if you felt so strongly, I would have gone with you.”

I smile and reach for her hand. But she isn’t ready to forgive me yet. She wraps her arms in a tight fold.

“I know. Believe me,” I say, taking one step closer. “I know that you would have come. You’ve been saving me our whole lives, Autumn.”

Her glare falters at my words.

“But I needed to do this for myself. And no one else. And,” I say, cupping her cheek, “I needed to do it alone.”

“And?”

“And now, I won’t ever need to do anything alone again. I promise, you can help me make all of my decisions from here on out. If you want to go to the bathroom with me, I’ll let you.”

Her eyes flutter up in a roll. “No. What happened with Mav? What did you need to say?”

I breathe in. Mav Bennett will never be an easy subject for me.He never really loved me and that isn’t an easy thing to understand as a son. “I ended things.”

“You hadn’t seen him in ten years, Ezra—not until the other night. That wasn’t ending enough?”

I pinch my lips and shake my head. “It wasn’t. I needed to tell him that I don’t need him. That I can live in Love or anywhere else and not be haunted by him.”

Her brows pinch so much that I’m tempted to ease my thumb over the worry lines she’s creating between her eyes. “Is that true?”

“It is.” I reach for her hand and this time she lets me take it. “Talking to him today… I felt—” I shake my head, peering at the ground.

“Go on.”

“Pity. I only felt pity, Autumn. I didn’t feel the anger or regret or remorse that I’d wasted so much of my life on. I felt pity. He has a son—one worth loving, one willing to forgive him, and he’s too consumed with the drink and his own anger to care.”

“Toostupidto care,” she says. Slowly, her arms wind around my middle and she hugs me close, making sure I know she sees me. Her cheek presses to my chest and she hugs me tight. A shaky breath falls from her lips. “I love you, Ezra.”

My chest warms with her words. I love her. And no amount of time could change that. “This ended pretty well for our first fight.”

“Ha!” She tilts her head, peering up at me. “This was far from our first fight.”

“Our first fight now that we are officially back together.”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure all we’ve done since you came back is fight.”

“No,” I say. “Not true.”

She shrugs one shoulder. “You’re proving my point with every word you speak.”

“Then stop talking already,” I tell her, leaning down andpressing my lips to hers. She can fight with me all she wants as long as I end the day at her side.

I tug on her hand.

“Where are we going?”

“We aren’t staying here, not in this smoke-infested place. I’m taking you home with me.”

And for the first time in a long time, Autumn doesn’t argue with me.

Epilogue

Autumn

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