Page 120 of Endgame

I’m captivated by Dakota, and I don’t see that ever-changing.

Letting go of my shirt, she wipes her tears under her glasses and looks up at me with a fresh wave of adoration. “God, yes. I think I always have been.”

Strike me down. I’m the luckiest man on the planet.

I reach both hands to hold her face, lifting her to look at me so she can feel every word I’m about to say.

I want her to rest in my love for her.

“I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but if I had to guess, it was the moment you told me you felt your life was at risk for driving with me. That’s when I knew. I knew you were it for me, Dakota. I don’t let people in. My mother left me, and it was a fight to find a family that wouldchooseto love me even a fraction of what they loved their biological children. People always leave, and I believed that for myself. My life is already exposed in a way that leaves me no privacy, a choice I made for myself, but still one that makes having a personal life difficult. Yet, with you, I didn’t have to think twice. I knew there was no other option than to know you and to hope you wanted to know even a sliver about me. It helped that Navy was your best friend, giving me a guaranteed in,but I would have found a way to you regardless. Since you bulldozed your way into my life full of sass and beauty, nothing else has existed outside of you. I’m smitten by you, angel, to the point where I’ve convinced myself I’m certifiably insane when we're apart. The need for you to love me has been consuming. I know it’s taken you longer than you may have wanted to feel ready for the possibility of a life with me, but if you let me love you the way I’ve dreamed of,I promise you I’ll make you so damn happy because that’s what you make me. I could have never avoided falling in love with you—it was inevitable. The job stuff will work itself out, I’m sure of it. My love for you has proven my endgame can be a person. Please tell me I’m yours.”

I’ve laid it all out there for her.

Even if she’s not quite where I am, that’ll be okay. I’ll love her still until she is.

Waiting for her response feels like hours, so much I didn’t realize my eyes are closed. My anxiety over her reaction is flooding my thoughts.

“Callaway?”

Her words echo through the hallway. Fuck, we’re still standing halfway out of her apartment. I wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Yes?”

My eyes are still closed as I scoot further into her space. I can’t bring myself to open them. I realize I look like a fool, but I’m not prepared to hear the worst.

Soft giggles only confirm my ridiculousness right now.

“Why do you still have your eyes closed?”

I open them slowly to peer at her and find her smiling from ear to ear, not a tear in sight.

Exhilaration hits me, presumably so, but I can’t help it.

I open my eyes quickly. “Shit, sorry. I’ll let you go if you need some time. I know I kind of dropped a bomb on you, and I didn’t plan on doing that. Actually, I did. I'll head out. I’ve got practice in the morning, which I know you know, obviously because you work there, but still, if you try to reach me, you’ll know where I am. Okay. Bye.”

I’ve officially hit rock bottom—an all-time low for a guy like me.

Embarrassment is a light term for how I feel at thismoment. I babbled like an idiot after professing my undying love for the woman of my goddamn fantasies, and now I’m leaving.

How did I make it this far in life?

I’m a liability to myself.

She’s better off with Kingston at this point. I’d never tell him that because he would consider it an invitation. No. Nope.

If I can’t have her, he sure can’t.

Untangling myself from her embrace, I turn to leave, hopefully intending to scrub myself clean from humiliation, before Dakota’s tranquil voice catches my attention.

“You didn’t let me respond.”

Where is my head today?

I turn back around and walk closer to her, deciding to let the door close behind me. We’re standing less than a foot away, my hands making room in the front pockets of my jeans with anticipation. Lifting my head, I give her a silent nod, hoping she takes that as her cue to continue.

Thankfully she does.

“For me, it was the moment you kicked all the dirt around in Trevor’s apartment. The way you defended me without even knowing me showed me the type of man you are. I was powerless to think I could fight my attraction to you. Yes, you’re sexy as hell, but your heart is what I fell for first. I don’t have the best experience with men, as you know, but you have rewritten the book for them all. Call yourself the author of my heart for all I care; I’m glad it’s you, Callaway. I’m so in love with you it scares me. You have the potential to shatter me, and that’s a tough reality to face. But I guess nothing great is worth fighting for, and you are worth every battle in this life. I’m not sure what the future looks like for my career as of now. For once, that thought doesn’tseem so terrifying. You’remyendgame. The rest will work itself out.”

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