Page 158 of Redeeming Heart

I have just fallen back to sleep when I heard the sound of my door opening and softly closing before hearing footsteps advancing towards my bed. I felt the bed dip and then felt a strong arm wrapping itself around my torso before a kiss was placed on the back of my neck and slowly made its way down over my tattoo ’ed angel wings.

“How did you get past my dad?” I mumbled into my pillow, hiding my smile when he snuggled up against me.

We aren’t teenagers anymore and I have slept over at his place more than I count. I just felt I needed to be alone for today since it’s always hard to process that my mother couldn’t be here.

“He let me in,” Brandon replied, pulling the blanket away from my head so he could see me.

My dad had no objection to our relationship and he treated Brandon as his son. His mom wanted to through a party when she found out we were finally dating and she knew all this time that I was the girl he always had a crush on.

I turned over onto my other side and pushed Brandon on his back so I could use him as my pillow.

“I didn’t come here so that you can use me as a pillow,” He teased, wrapping his arms around me and holding me against him while stroking his fingers through my hair.

“Hmm—well, you are going to become my pillow if you keep on doing that,” I muttered, my eyelids feeling heavy.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked without removing his hand.

I shook my head—opening my eyes and looking up at him.

“Hey, angel,” He greeted shooting me a smile. One that made my toes curl over.

“I brought you something small for your birthday, hope you don’t object.” He said, pointing at a gift bag standing on my nightstand.

I was quite curious to see what it was so without further a due pushed myself up and reached for it. He chuckled at my reaction and sat up letting me take a peek. It was a jewelry box—not, it wasn’t a ring box as it was much bigger.

I opened it and a smile made its way to my lips as I looked down at the special edition cross hockey sticks necklace and armband.

“I know you are a girl who doesn’t do anything expensive or shiny when it comes to jewelry. I got you this because your ambition is a big part of you and makes you who you are.” I leaned forward meeting his lips for a kiss.

“Thank you, they are beautiful and I will definitely be wearing them.”

He nodded at me, curling a piece of my hair behind my ear. “I know you told me that you don’t celebrate your birthday because you feel that there is no reason to.”

I nodded.

“Well, I want to remind you that you are one of the many reasons why I joined the ice hockey team and pushed as hard as I could to get out on top. You are also one of the millions of reasons why I smile and get up in the morning even when it feels I don’t want to.”

He traced his fingers down the side of my face—stopping at the end of my jaw and gently cupping it in his hand. “You might not see your reason for being here, but you complete me. You are the reason why 14 other girls got a hit at their future because you motivated them to do it. You lead them into a war that was obvious that nobody was going to like you, but you still went ahead with it and came out on top.”

“I love you, Sasha, and I will keep saying it until the day you start to believe me and accept that the world sees you. Not the broken side, but the side of a warrior who never let the world win.”

A tear escaped from my eyes—not only because of his beautiful confession but because I missed her and I felt lost without her.

“I wish she was here to see this,” I referred to our relationship. She always poked fun at me for not wanting something like this and told me that I will find someone who I want to be with. She’s not here to witness that she spoke the truth.

“I wish she was here to see me grow older and more ambitious. I wish I can see her smile one last time or hear her laughter or even her voice.” The tears were flowing now and I felt kind of dumb crying in front of Brandon, but he didn’t show any signs of annoyance or impatience as he gathered me in his arms and held me against him until the tears were finally dried up.

“I’m hungry,” I mumbled, pulling slightly away to wipe down my cheeks.

He chuckled at me. “I thought you would be that’s why I got food on my way here.” He brushed my cheek with a kiss before standing up from my bed.

“I’m just going to fetch it downstairs.” He said, leaving my room making me sit there wondering if this was all worth it to sit here and cry on my birthday?

I looked over at my drawer where I hid my mother’s final letter. I haven’t forgotten about it since I placed it in there—I was just never ready to read it.

I know she was thrilled of having me and she always told me that it was the best day of her life when she had me. I kept dreading my birthday and forcing myself to think that I wasn’t meant to be here when I only realized now how selfish I have been.

I was her miracle when people kept telling her that she will die having me, but she didn’t. She got a few years to spend time with me and she was blessed to have met me.

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