Page 90 of Cross My Heart

We make eye contact, and I smile sheepishly. “Will you be with me?”

“Like your boyfriend?”

“Yeah…” I nod. “Exactly like that.”

There’s a moment of silence between us, and he looks at me with wide eyes. I’m guessing he’s surprised by my question because he doesn’t say anything at all. I’m starting to get scared that maybe it’s too soon to be asking this of him. After all, I’m not even divorced yet. But I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Fuck the technicalities. Scarlett and I are done.

“I—” Noah shakes his head. “A-are you sure?”

“Never been more sure of anything in my life.” I reach out, brushing my knuckles over his cheek.

“Okay.” Noah nods with a grin. “Yes.”

I sigh in relief. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time, Noah.”

“Trust me, I’ve been waiting longer.” Noah smirks.

I was always wishing I could love him in the light—because Noah doesn’t deserve to be loved in the dark. He’s all the fairytales I’ve ever read about. The butterflies in my stomach every time he looks at me. He’s my prince charming, and I’m just the lucky nobody that gets to be loved by him. Simply put—he’s everything and more.

“I love you, Noah,” I whisper, and we both lie on our sides and look into each other’s eyes. “Always have and always will. What I feel for you scares me, but I know you wouldn’t ever drop me. Right, baby?”

“I’d never drop you, Ty,” he whispers back. “Please don’t break me. You have all the power here.”

“Do you love me?” I ask him, and he bites his bottom lip.

“More than anything.”

We’re both silent for a moment, just taking each other in.

“I love you too,” I tell him. “To the moon and back, until all the stars in the sky disappear, and even after.”

“So…” Noah says softly. “When are you serving her papers?”

“She got served today,” I reply. “And I’m putting the house up for sale this week.”

Noah nods. “You know in a few weeks I’m expected to go back to work, right?”

My stomach drops. “And then what?”

“That’s up to you, Ty,” he says slowly. “You could move in with me at Benning, or I could come be with you on the weekends. I know you have a business here?—”

“I’ll come with you,” I blurt out, not even thinking twice about it. Maybe that’s a problem, maybe I’m making a rash decision. But the truth is that I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, and I’ll be damned if I wait one more fucking minute. “I’m selling the bar anyway. There’s nothing I want in this town.”

He frowns. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I tell him without missing a beat. “I’ll have to stay with my parents until I sell the bar. But as soon as it’s done, I’ll come live with you.”

“I guess we better start looking for a place then.” Noah chuckles. “All my stuff is in storage.”

“We’ll figure it out.” I shrug. “We always do.”

And I can only hope from now on we always figure it outtogether.

Noah falls asleep in my arms after he cleans us up, and I’ve never felt so at peace in my entire life. That is, until he begins to thrash on the bed. His body stiffens, his mouth opens on a gasp, and he cries out. I try to wake him to no avail, but then suddenly his eyes open and he’s panting.

He just had another nightmare. He’s been having a lot of those, and I feel helpless knowing there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Baby,” I breathe. “You’re here with me. Listen to my voice, I’m right here.”

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