Page 59 of When We Dare

Stella’s eyes met mine, big and brown, with her blond curls tumbling around her shoulders.

“I missed you.” My words slipped out before I could think about them.

It was the simple truth. I’d already said the hard part.

She tipped her head to the side, lifting her hand to tuck a loose curl behind her ear. She was pink-cheeked and fresh-looking. “I missed you too. But I missed you before you went away.” She blinked, looking at me uncertainly. “I think maybe I overreacted.”

“What do you mean?” I pressed.

“When I broke up with you. My words got ahead of me,” she explained.

“It wasn’t you. I panicked because I love you. I was scared to even think about it, much less tell you.” Saying that aloud was a relief. My heart started to loosen. It felt as if I’d been clenching a fist around it for years, holding on so tight that it hurt. I’d been afraid to let go.

“I guess we were both afraid,” she said slowly. “What do we do now?”

“I need to stop being an idiot. Leo told me that I had either done you a favor, or I was an idiot.” I laughed softly as I recalled his point.

“A favor?”

“By not wasting your time if I didn’t want more. I was the idiot because I was a coward and didn’t know how to tell you how much you meant to me.”

Stella pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. I reached for her hand and laced my fingers through it. “You can laugh. It hurt to hear it, but Leo was just pointing out the obvious. And then, Parker told me again he would kick my ass if I hurt you.”

Chapter Forty-Three

STELLA

I looked over at Hudson, my heart feeling warm and almost soft inside my chest. Oh, that old anxiety was still churning, spinning around it like a storm dying down. I was relieved to be honest about my feelings and deeply relieved not to be alone in them.

“What do you want?” As soon as my question slipped out, I wanted to snatch it back, to hold it tight inside.

This was always my folly, wishing someone would want what I wanted. And now, it mattered more than it hadevermattered. Because I loved Hudson. He was more than just an idea. He was living and breathing and occupied the whole of my heart.

I watched as his shoulders rose with a deep breath. His eyes stayed locked to mine, his gaze warm and focused.

“I want with you what I was always afraid to want with anyone. The whole thing. One day at a time, but knowing that each of those days you’re walking this winding path of life with me. I want to come home and make dinner with you. I want to get pizza with too much pepperoni even though too much pepperoni is impossible.” His lips quirked at the corners. “When I miss you, I want to know I’m coming home to you. When you need me, I want to be there. Although, please don’t ever stepout on a frozen lake ever again in your life. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you out there.”

My throat felt tight and tears stung my eyes.

“What do you want?” he asked, his words barely above a whisper.

“All of that,” I finally managed to say.

“Don’t cry.” He lifted his hand to swipe away the tear that splashed onto my cheek.

I stopped petting the cats long enough to brush my fingers across both of my cheeks. “They’re happy tears, overwhelmed tears. They’re not sad tears. I promise.” I took a shaky breath. “We can tell Parker he doesn’t have to kick anybody’s ass.”

Hudson’s cell phone vibrated where it sat on the coffee table. He ignored it. I cleared my throat. “You should check that,” I said when it kept ringing.

He lifted it to glance at the screen. “It’s your freaking brother. He’s probably calling to check on me and make sure I’m not still being an idiot.”

I burst out laughing at that. “For what it’s worth, I told him I broke up with you, but I didn’t give him any more information than that.”

“It was kind of my fault, or at least I think it was,” Hudson said quickly.

I rolled my eyes. “It was both of us.” The phone continued to ring impatiently. “Answer the phone, or I will,” I added.

Hudson released my hand and slid his thumb across the screen, tapping to put it on speaker immediately. “Parker, you’re on speaker. It’s me and Stella.”

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