Page 64 of Fate Forever and Always

“Thank you for being there for me today. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

I was quiet and felt my eyes pricking with tears again. She sat up to look at me straight on.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Sweets. I’m fine. I’m just so happy you’re safe.”

I tried to look away, but she grabbed my face in both of her hands. She wiped her thumb over my cheek, catching a tear that made its way out. “Nicholas James, talk to me right now.”

I did my best to swallow the lump that was preventing me from speaking. “I just…fuck, Callie. I fucking left you alone with that guy. He…he fucking touched you. He fucking violatedmyfucking girl. You should not be the one comforting me right now.” I loosely gripped her hands and pulled them down between us. “Callie, you are my life. You are my fucking everything.”

Callie straddled me before I could get the rest of the words out. Before she settled fully onto my lap, she softly gasped.

“Sorry.” I tried to adjust myself a little. Of course, I had to have a raging fucking hard-on right now. I get one anytime she touches me, no matter the situation.

She looked into my eyes, rubbing my cheeks with her thumbs. “I love you, too.”

My whole body went rigid. I sat up against the headboard a little more.

“What did you just say?” I asked cautiously.

“Forever and always,” she replied.

Words…what the fuck are words right now? Callie just told me she loved me, then used my version of I love you to reiterate it.

“Callie,” I said hesitantly. “You just told me you loved me. You are not thinking clearly, you—”

She kissed me deeply. “Nicholas James. Listen to me, and you better listen good. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone or anything in this world. You are my safe haven. You are the person that lights up my world without even trying. I am sorry it took me over ten years to realize I was made for loving you, but we have the rest of forever to make up for it. I have known from the moment I met you that you were something special, and I knew from the first moment you said ‘Forever and Always’ thatyou were trying to tell my stupid ass that you loved me. I'm sorry you had to wait, baby, but I am yours…Forever and always.”

I took her face in my hands and kissed her furiously. “I fucking love you so much, Callie. Baby, there hasn’t been a day since I met you that I haven’t thought about you. I don’t know what will happen in this life, but I know that I will be doing it with you by my side. Forever and always, baby.”

My hands crept up her back and into her hair, pulling her into me. Between kisses, I told her again. “Callie. I am going to love you until the day I die.”

“You can't die without me. If you’re a corpse, I'm a corpse.”

I leaned back. “Did you just turn a beautiful Notebook reference morbid?”

She kissed my nose. “I don’t know whether to love you more because you knew it was from The Notebook or to make fun of you for it.”

“I only watched it because it’s your favorite.” She looked surprised. “Callie, I told you I love everything about you. Even your shitty taste in movies.”

She laughed and pushed me onto the bed, kissing me until we both snuggled in and fell back to sleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

Chapter twenty-seven

Callie

The next few days went by in a blur. The morning after Nick and I declared our love for each other, my adrenaline from the assault had worn off. When Nick tried to get into the shower with me, I freaked out. I yelled at him, making a scene about how I didn’t want to be touched. He barely spoke to me that entire day, giving me the space I needed. He even offered to sleep on the couch, but that made me feel even worse.

I knew Nick would never hurt me, but all I could muster up was hugging him or holding his hand. I was grateful he was being so understanding, but I felt like me being assaulted would eventually be too much for him, and change how he felt about me. I was afraid he wouldn’t find me as desirable as before.

In the days that followed, we fell into a sort of routine. We’d wake up, he would give me the privacy to shower, and then take his own. We got breakfast at the hotel, then hung out until lunch. The days always ending with dinner and a beach trip or a show mixed in.

“What are you thinking about, beautiful girl?” Nick asked from across the dinner table.

“Nothing really, I've just been thinking a lot about Aubrey.” He gave me a questioning look. “I should probably call her and tell her what happened. I feel weird about her not knowing.”

That wasn’t a total lie. I had been thinking about that since the morning after. We only had a few days left here, and I needed to tell her to help calm my own uneasiness. On the other hand, I knew she was going to have a fucking heart attack and would worry about me until she could hug me again.

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