Page 37 of By Your Side

His words make my pulse race at the speed of light. Or perhaps it isn’t his words exactly but the softness to his tone of voice. The way that he talks about me like I’m precious to him, like he adores me. I clutch my hand to my chest and find myself smiling wildly, my feelings for him over shadowing everything else.

“You love her,” my father declares, as if this is completely obvious to him. “Millie, I mean. You love her, don’t you? This isn’t just some fling to you. This is real, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here.”

“Of course, I love her.” The certainty in Lance’s answer shocks me somewhat. “I’ve loved her for a very long time. I just didn’t have the courage to tell her before. I wish I had done now. I wish I’d told her how I felt about her before all of this because I don’t want it to seem like it’s a reaction to this, you know?”

I can’t breathe, the butterflies in the pit of my stomach are the size of birds, my heart hurts because it’s so strong. Everything that he’s saying… well it would be crazy if it wasn’t overwhelming. But in a good way, in a really good way. All of this hasn’t changed his opinion of me, which is a freaking miracle.

“I bet she made you fight for her though, didn’t she?” Dad laughs. “I bet she didn’t make it easy which is why I’m hardly surprised you haven’t said anything yet. Those three little words take a lot of courage.”

“I wouldn’t need any courage to say it to her now, not a scrap. I just want her to know…”

I find myself rising to my feet and my body slowly making its way down the stairs before I’m really ready for it. I guess my body is making the decision for me that I can’t hide any longer because I need to hear those words coming directly from his mouth. I also need Lance to know that I love him as well. He has to know…

“Ah, Millie.” My father spots me first and his eyes light up with glee. I guess he knows that this is a good sign because I’m finally ready to talk to Lance, to hear what he has to say. It’s taken me a while because even after the revelation that I had in the jail, I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing… but now I’m certain.

“Millie?” Lance’s head snaps around rapidly. “You’re here? I didn’t realize that you were here…”

“I’m here,” I reply, somehow managing to sound much calmer than I really feel. “I’m here to talk…”

“Did you hear what I said?” He scrapes the chair back as he stands up to greet me. “I’m sorry. I feel bad for talking about you now. I didn’t realize… I didn’t know…” He gasps a couple of times. “I’m sorry.”

“My dad didn’t leave you any choice, did he? I know exactly what he’s like.”

I smile at my father and he nods curtly at me, giving me exactly what I want from him, confirmation that this is a good idea. If I really allow this to happen with Lance, then I will be dating with my father’s approval. Not something that’s ever happened before. I like the idea of it actually, it sounds great.

“Well, if you heard what I said then you will already know that I’m in love with you.” He nods determinedly as he says this. “But I understand that it’s hard for you to be with me because of the press interest. I do get if you have to reject me because of that. But I couldn’t let it go without letting you know truth.”

“I love you too,” I reply easily, surprised at how simple it is to say those words now. “And it is going to be difficult. But at the same time, the worst has already happened, hasn’t it? The secret that I didn’t want out there already is, so why not continue?” All of a sudden, I realize how that sounds. “Not that I’m going to begin seeking the media or anything like that, I don’t want to be in the public eye, but I also don’t want to turn my back on the best relationship I’ve ever had. I know we didn’t have a long time, but it was great, wasn’t it?”

The next moment he has his hands in mine and I feel the all too familiar electrical chemistry buzzing between us. God, I’ve missed Lance. I really don’t think that I could go a long time without him. Certainly not my whole life. Imagine if I walked away, if he really did leave when I told him to, my life would be hell.

“It was amazing, Millie. But I always knew that me and you would be awesome given half the chance.”

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