Page 111 of Hard To Leave

“I want everyone in this bar to hear me.” She reached out and pulled my hands in hers. I stared at her, feeling the curiosity get the better of me. This was so unlike her. She seemed strong and confident and so damn bold. While I, on the other hand, struggled to gain my footing. The ground might as well have been shifting beneath my feet.

“You’re the one that I want. Only you.” Her small fingers tightened around mine like she was afraid I would pull away. “I know you’re scared, but I refuse to let you go. No matter how hard you try to push me away, I will still fight for you.” She looked at me with such clarity that it freaked me out. “Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way, but whatever way you choose, I will chase after you. You can build your walls and throw up whatever roadblocks you want, but I will knock down every single one of them. You belong to me, and I won’t stop until you realize that. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I tightened my grip on her hand and yanked her against me. I didn’t want her to move. I wanted her to stay like this forever. This is where she belonged. In my arms. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

Her hands started to move up my arms slowly. “You’re worth it.”

It would be so much easier for me to hate her. To continue to push her away. To take all the broken pieces that were between us and scatter them so far apart that they would never be able to be put together again. But if these past few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I didn’t want to live in a world without her. I’ve had enough time to process and enough time to think.

I never realized how alone I was until she was gone. And I knew that I didn’t want to go back to my life that existed before.

“Kiss her already,” I heard someone call out from the crowd.

Her gaze landed on my mouth. My body heated from just one look, and that’s all it took. I leaned forward with a grin. “You heard the man.” The second my lips captured hers, I was lost and found all at once. Nothing had ever felt so right. My fingers gripped her hips tighter, and I kissed her with everything I had. It was filled with promises and apologies, of love and hope and everything that was us. It was perfect.

When I pulled back, she looked up at me. Her eyes were blinking with tears. I caught one with my finger. “Please don’t cry, sweetheart.”

Her hands grabbed onto my shirt like she was afraid to let go. “Tell me you’ll take me back. Promise me that you’ll never leave again.”

Walking away from her when she begged me to stay was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I said some things I shouldn’t have, and I let her go thinking I was doing what was best for everybody, but I was an idiot.

I held her face in my hands and allowed myself to take her in. She was so goddamned beautiful, and I was done. Done pushing her away. Done trying to live a life without her because a world without Chloe didn’t make sense. My thumb caressed her cheek. “After that grand gesture, you leave me with no choice.”

“Her soft eyes stared back at me. “I know we have a lot to work through, but as long as you believe in me, believe in us…”

I stopped her with a kiss. “I know I’ve put you through hell these past few weeks. If you can find a way to forgive me for being such a selfish asshole, then I can forgive you for not being honest with me.” I shook my head, still trying to digest everything. My brain was still reeling from the shock of her being here. “I pushed you away out of fear because I was scared. I was scared of the unknown. I know in the beginning you fought your feelings for me, but what you don’t understand is that I never planned on falling in love with you. And now that I know what your love feels like, there is no way I can live without it. I need you in my life, Chloe—more than I thought I did. If I could go back in time, I would do so many things differently. I’m so sorry for walking away.”

Her hands landed on my chest, resting over my beating heart. “I love you so much.”

I dipped my head to hers. “And I never stopped loving you, not for one second. We’ll find a way to make it work.”

“It’s about time,” I heard someone call from behind me. I turned to see my friends smiling and not looking surprised.

“Wait a minute.” I pointed an accusing finger at the guilty party. “You guys knew about this?”

Cassie chewed on her lower lip, all of a sudden going mute. Nick rolled his eyes and just ignored me. And Liam didn’t look the slightest bit sorry. In fact, none of them did. They looked pleased.

Chloe placed her hand on my shoulder and grinned up at me. “Why do you think Liam was late?”

I pretended to grumble under my breath when in reality I couldn’t be happier. The fact that she went to all this trouble, got up on that stage and sang her heart out in front of all these people made me love her even more—if that were even possible.

I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her nose. “I never knew you could sing.”

She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Me either, but I had a good teacher.”

I lifted my eyebrow, then she jerked her head to the back of the room where Brogan stood in a pair of washed jeans, a white T-shirt and a baseball cap that looked two sizes too big for his head. He leaned against the wall and waved.

I staggered back, but Chloe grabbed onto my hand. “You can thank him for all this. It was his idea.”

“What?”

She waved him over, and I watched him walk across the bar with a swagger that only someone in his profession could pull off. He stopped in front of me while I eyed him cautiously. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to feel. Was I supposed to feel grateful and appreciative, or was I supposed to feel threatened and jealous?

I ran my free hand through my hair, not having a clue about what to say or how to act.

Chloe gripped my arm, and I tilted my head to look at her. “Brogan gave me voice lessons so I could win you back.”

Before I could make sense of her words, he extended his hand and I had no other choice but to shake it.

We would never be best friends, but he was Chloe’s ex and Tanner’s father. He was going to be in our lives one way or another. After a quick and awkward handshake, I drew Chloe to my side. I had this overwhelming need to keep her there. To keep her close and never let go.

I heard clapping all around us as my friends and complete strangers came up to give us hugs and well wishes. Some even bought us drinks to celebrate. Never in a million years did I see this coming. But like they say, some of the best things in life are completely unexpected.

---