Page 238 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

I saw you for the first time tonight. Of course, I had seen you before, in photos, when we were just kids, but we’re not kids anymore. You’re definitely not a kid anymore.

You are… you are beautiful. You took my breath away. Not just because I was so shocked to see you in Crescent Lake, but because you grew up to be lovelier than I ever even imagined.

Don’t take that the wrong way. Because even in those imaginings, in those dreams I had of meeting you as an adult, you were beautiful. But those imaginings of you were incomparable to the real thing. The real you.

You are so different. You look different from your picture when you were nine, but you also act a little different from what I remember from our letters. I know twelve years have gone by since then, but clearly, a lot has happened to you in that time to make you the way you are now.

There is so much I want to tell you and ask you. I want to know everything I missed while we lost touch. I want you to know everything you missed while we lost touch. One morning of coffee is not going to be enough to make up for all the time we lost, Haven, but it is a start.

I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Your Friend,

Wesley

I smiled as I read it and I remembered that night, the night we saw each other for the first time. Then I read the next one.

Dear Haven,

I am sorry. I’m sorry I failed you all those years ago. I wish I could have been there for you when you needed me. I wish I could go back and change it all. Change what happened to you. What happened to Jack. Change everything so you would still be with them, and we would still be friends.

But I can’t do that. All I can do is apologize. Apologize, and do what I can now to prove to you that I have always been on your side, in your corner, supporting you and fighting for you. And hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and let me back in.

Because I’m not giving up on you, Haven. You may be hiding behind thick, solid walls you’ve built around yourself and your heart, but I know the real you is still in there. And maybe the you that’s in there is still hurting, still a little broken, but I will be there for you in the way I couldn’t be before, the way I should have been before.

So don’t give up on me, Haven.

Not yet.

Your Friend,

Wesley

My cheeks heated, and I glanced at him. “I never did apologize for treating you the way I did,” I said, covering his hand with mine.

“You were hurt. And angry. And trying to protect yourself from being hurt again.” He shrugged. “I understood.”

I leaned over and kissed him, a brief peck, then read the next one.

Dear Twinkle Toes,

When I asked you on a date, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting.

I mean, I was obviously expecting us to have dinner. To talk and catch up and relearn everything about each other. To spend an evening with each other and see where things went, see if there was something between us.

But I wasn’t expecting… well, you, I guess.

You truly are something unique. Something unexpected. You have brought light back into my life when I didn’t even realize the light was missing. You make me want to be a better man because I want to be that man for you.

Although I will admit, it was very difficult for me to leave you at the end. Because I wanted to stay with you.

No, scratch that. I wanted you to come home with me.

I know that all sounds very forward and very much too fast, but I won’t lie to you. That was what I wanted. I want you to come home with me every night. I want to be your safe place. You deserve so much more than the hand life has dealt you, and I will do whatever I can to provide that for you, to give you the life you deserve.

When you’re ready. Because I know you’re not there yet. Not like I am. So I will wait. I will wait for you to be ready.

Your Boyfriend,

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