Page 83 of Finally Loved

Alba felt tears burning in her eyes. She wasn’t a massive happy crier, but something about seeing the pieces click together in Neve’s mind, in seeing her realize her worth, even after everything she’d been through, hit deeper than she could have ever imagined before Neve.

She reached one hand up to cup Neve’s cheek. “You are not the problem. Not in any of this.”

Neve took a shaky breath, looking like she finally knew, deep down, that that might be true, even if her heart was still struggling to fully accept it.

“You have never been the problem,” Alba reiterated.

She laughed, the noise a little wet and thick. “I don’t know whether I’d say that.”

“I would.” Alba pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.

“I appreciate that. But everyone is the problem sometimes. That’s just life.”

“Ugh. I mean, maybe. But, in terms of being who you are, in whether or not the people hurting you are something you deserved? You have never been the problem.”

Neve watched her, tears swimming in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Alba was astounded by the level of gratitude in Neve’s voice. She didn’t think she’d done anything worthy of it.

“For seeing me for who I am and not wanting to change that. For wanting to be with me despite—”

“There is nodespite.I want to be with all of you, always.”

“I know,” she said, laughing and crying at the same time. “And I didn’t know that was possible before. So…thank you.”

Alba laughed and cried with her, pulling her into a deep, loving kiss. She’d never wanted anyone so much, nor had she ever been so willing to ride into battle for someone, but all she wanted to do was rid the world of every bad thing that had ever hurt Neve or ever made her doubt her worth.

She pulled back seriously. “Do you want me to tell Roxanne to leave?”

“You really would, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“But you’ve known her longer than you’ve known me. Your family and her family…”

Charlie’s weird logic again. Alba couldn’t believe the number she’d pulled on Neve. “My family loves you. I love you. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve known someone, if who they really are is exposed to me, I’m not going to put up with behavior that hurts the person I love just because we have some history.”

Neve stared at her. “You love me?”

Alba laughed, a little shy. “Was that not obvious?”

“You love me,” she repeated, looking a little starstruck.

“Yes, Neve. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Alba looked at her, a giant grin spreading across her face. “Do you?”

Neve giggled cheekily. “Was that not obvious?”

Alba laughed and tackled her into the sand, hovering over her and kissing her, whisperingI love youagainst her lips overand over again. It was the best feeling in the world hearing it against her own lips in return.

Chapter 23

There was something so freeing to Neve about realizing she had never really been the problem. Well, maybe she had, in that her sexuality was not compatible with Roxanne’s—and her revelation didn’t really change anything about her previous relationships—but it wasn’t that Neve was wrong and everyone else was perfectly right. Just like everyone else in the world, Neve had her problems and Roxanne had hers. Neve wasn’t sure what they were, exactly, but they had her hiding who she was, lying about her life and her family, and blaming someone who never stood a chance against that by throwing something that hurt them in their face.

Neve wasn’t even that angry with her. She’d already known she was long over the relationship. She’d already accepted it wasn’t right and was never going to work. Now, all she really hoped was that Roxanne would figure herself out and refrain from purposefully hurting anyone else in the future.

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