Page 197 of The Perfect Love

We stayed up half the night talking, cuddling, and having sex. Reconnection in every way.

There’s still a heaviness hanging over me, but it’s slowly lifting. I have a therapy appointment first thing Tuesday morning, and I’m hoping that will help even more. Though I’m still expecting it to take time for us to process all this—individually and together as well.

My heart is calmer as I watch Chelsea sleeping peacefully. Her resilience is breathtaking and her grace continues to astound me. She likes to call me her book boyfriend, but she’s my dream girl, only now instead of it being because of the things I found attractive or I thought I wanted in a partner, it’s because ofher. Her heart, her soul, her brilliant smile, her wicked sense of humor, her intelligence, her kindness, her fortitude, and her strength. There aren’t enough words to explain how lucky I am that she’s mine and how hard I’ll fight to make sure she always knows how loved and cherished she is.

Fuck, she takes my breath away.

A dream that’s a fantasy some days. Smiling to myself, I slide my hand over and gently pinch her arm.

She stirs and looks at me, eyes squinty.

“Did you just pinch me?” she asks, a sleepy rasp in her voice.

I lean in close and whisper in her ear, “I had to be sure you were real.”

Her gorgeous smile cuts through the haze still hanging around me, like the sun through parting clouds.

“I’m real. This is real. And we’re okay. We’re here together. Happy. Or we will be, even if we still have to work through some hard stuff.”

“I’ll do anything as long as it’s with you.”

She rolls over and buries her face in my chest, her mess of auburn waves strewn everywhere.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too. We’re better together.”

“So much better. I promise I won’t run away from you to process something ever again. Everything is easier when I’m in your arms.”

I press a kiss to her head. “And I promise to try not to assume the worst and blame myself and take on the weight of the world.”

She chuckles and lifts her head. “I have faith in you. Mostly.”

“Gee, thanks. So much love.”

“All the love.” She kisses my nose. “But I also know you are always going to be someone who takes protecting the people you love and caring for them seriously, which means you’ll alwaysput some extra weight on your shoulders. Luckily, I’ll be here to pull it off or help you carry it.”

I open my mouth to respond, but her phone rings. After turning it off and on three times last night, we finally got the service to connect right again—at which point I asked her to delete the pathetic voicemail I left her yesterday. Thankfully, she did it without question. Now, I’m definitely putting a new phone on the Christmas list for her.

She grabs it off the bedside table, eyes going wide when she sees the name.

“It’s Jacinta.”

She scrambles to answer it and puts it on speaker.

“Hi, Jacinta. What’s going on?”

She laughs a little. “Good morning, Chelsea.”

“And Trevor. He’s here too.”

“Is he? Good. I called your grandmother first, but she said to call you. The results came in this morning, earlier than expected. The DNA was a match.”

Chelsea lets out a shuddery breath. “So… what does that mean?”

“The DA will prosecute the case. There’s a warrant out for his arrest.”

“And then what happens?” I ask. “Do we need to be prepared for a trial?”

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