Page 13 of The Fate of Us

I run up to him, pulling on his arm as he finally quiets down. “Noah, you need to get off the beach. You could get struck by lightning.”

He looks at me and stands, towering over me as I fail to cover us both with the umbrella and let it fall to the ground. “If he was alive right now, I would kill him.”

“Noah.”

“That asshole does not get the final word.”

“Noah.”

“I don’t like that he can still hurt you even when he isn’t here.”

“Noah, please,” I urge, gripping on to his wrist for dear life.

“He never deserved you.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you say it changed nothing and everything.”

I gather my thoughts as I search his beautiful blue eyes. “Because it made me realize the last seven years was a waste. And all my doubts I had about falling in love again weren’t needed. Because he never loved me. He never loved me the way he said he did. And all the fears that were holding me back from getting closer to you didn’t matter anymore. You and me, Noah. We are right. We are. We just are. And I won’t hold myself back from loving you anymore.”

His eyes brighten at my words before a haze of lust covers them. “Anna.”

His mouth is on mine. But this kiss isn’t passion and lust. This is a different kind of kiss. A kiss I can feel all the way in my bones.

A crack of thunder overhead breaks us apart.

Noah laces his fingers with mine. “Come on, let’s get inside before we catch a cold.”

5

Noah

Something changed.And I can’t place it.

The feelings inside of me I’ve never had before.

A burning need to protect this woman in front of me. I can feel it through my entire body. A connection on the deepest level.

How did one letter change everything between us?

And those words she said.

I won’t hold myself back from loving you anymore.

They caused a fire in my heart.

I want to love her.

I am one step closer to opening my heart completely to her.

I just need the closure she finally got.

But I know every day I spend with her, the guard around my heart breaks down more and more.

She gives me butterflies.

She makes my heart sing.

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