Page 103 of Love Me Like It's Real
“There is one thing missing,” he says.
“What?” I grimace.
“The happy ever after?”
“Well, yeah. You hate those. That’s why.”
He takes a deep breath and presses his lips from side to side before he says: “What can I say? I had a…change of heart. I think I like them now.”
“You do?” I take a step closer to him and he cups my cheek.
“Oh heck yeah.”
The statement sends shivers down my spine, just like his touch. There are so many things I want to say but I don’t want to rush into things and besides, half the things are not kid-appropriate. Or public-appropriate. So instead I bite my lips and stare at his mouth.
“I’ve got something for you too,” he says after a moment and puts his hand behind him and when he brings it back around he’s holding a red lock that readsF+H. “What do you say? Should we make it official?”
The girls jump with joy when they see the lock and glare at me until I nod and they drag us both to the fence.
They take the drinks and the book from our hands and watch us stand in front of the fence as if we’re standing at an altar.
Hayworth puts the lock around the wire and stops. “Are you sure? Once it’s locked there’s no turning back,” he asks.
“I can always buy bolt cutters.”
He puts his hand to mine and his expression turns serious for a moment that makes my throat tight and my heart heavy.
“Please don’t,” he begs.
I squeeze his hand reassuringly. “Since you asked so nicely,” I whisper and bring my other hand up, put it around the wire and lock and push the shackle down.
He lets go of the lock and I wrap my arms around him and kiss him, this time to a lot of fanfare from the two little devils who caused all ofthis.
And I couldn’t be happier.
THIRTY-THREE
HAYWORTH
One Year Later
“You’ve got a letter, Hayworth!” Arya jumps on the bed, almost kneeing me in the groin and pushes an envelope in my face.
She’s grown so much. I might have only known her for a year but it’s as if she’s gotten twice as tall in that time. Every once in a while I’ll randomly notice her features have changed slightly or Elsa’s hair has darkened, and feel like an old man.
It’s funny how you notice these kinds of changes when you’ve got kids in your life, something I never planned for or intended.
But then again I often catch myself noticing little details about Felix too. Details that one could only notice from spending a lot of their time with another person. A person they love.
Like remembering all the beauty spots on his body, or how his back turns all freckly in the summer, or how his belly and thighs have filled out a little, a result of my feeding and working him out every day.
My man’s got muscles now. And he puts them to good use every night.
“Well, open it up,” Arya urges me.
I sit up in bed with a groan and she rolls down between Felix and me. I open the familiar envelope and take the letter out.
I remember when I wrote it a few years ago, when I visited the library to write a love letter to my future self. I didn’t remember the delivery date I’d set though but until I held the letter in my hand I’d forgotten all about it.
