Page 124 of Deal Breaker
My heart stutters. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
He sits up, gently taking my hands in his. Nervously, I go up on my knees, kiss his mouth. His hands slide to either side of my face and stay there. He doesn’t move. He just keeps holding me, his breath slow and steady, as if he’s waiting for something. Waiting for me.
It takes a moment for the quaking inside of me to quiet, for my hands to stop clutching at the front of his shirt like I’ll fall if I let go. When I finally go still, he tips my chin up with a single finger until I have no choice but to meet his eyes. I don’t know what he sees in mine, but what I see in his steals the air from my lungs.
Not just the college kid who used to kiss me until my head spun. Not just the impossible man who can rile me up with a single look across a room. It’s something more. It’s the man I see in command at Cove. The one who makes impossible things happen because he’s decided that they should. It’s the same unshakable presence I’ve seen in him since the day we met, only sharper now, honed with years of life and loss. It’s the man who used to charge through the world like a wrecking ball and somehow grew into someone who knows exactly when to hold back, exactly when to push.
And right now, he’s using every ounce of that strength to hold me up while my insides tremble and my heart pounds so hard I can hear it. There’s something in his eyes that pins me where I am, something fierce and certain.
And before he even opens his mouth, I feel it. I know.
“I’ve been waiting to say something to you,” he says. “And I didn’t want to say it in the middle of chaos. Not when we were still catching our breath.”
His eyes search mine, steady and warm.
“I love you, Landyn.” The words are quiet, but clear.Undeniable. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
I don’t realize I’m crying until he lifts one hand and brushes his thumb across my cheek.
“Want to know why I’m so sure?” he asks.
I nod once and everything about him softens. His eyes. His posture. The grip he has on me shifts—less holding me in place, more holding me steady. Even his voice changes, low and careful, like he’s handing something fragile.
“It’s because I’ve been in love before,” he says. The words land heavy in my chest, and I feel my body instinctively tense in response. He catches it but keeps going.
“Only once. And it was with you. So, I know what it feels like, Landyn. I know the way it pulls at me, the way it changes everything. I know it because I’ve been here before. And right now? I feel the same thing. Only now it’s stronger. Deeper. Like it’s carved out a home in me.”
He leans in, pressing a kiss to my mouth so soft and certain it robs me of every coherent thought.
“I know I love you,” he murmurs against my lips. “I know it, like really know it. I love you, Landyn. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
He exhales, and I feel it more than I hear it. He’s stripped bare in front of me, heart wide open. “And it’s the same as when I first fell in love with you, but it’s different too,” he says, kissing me again, deeper now. “Because this time…” his mouth brushes mine once more. “This time is the last time I will ever fall in love. It’s you and me, June. From now until the end. Because I will never—ever—feel like this about anyone else.”
My heart beats and aches, beats and aches, and I can’t get a single word past the knot in my throat. Instead I just launch myself at him. Arms around his neck, holding ontohim like I might never let go. I’m crying, tears streaking hot down my cheeks.
“Ford,” I breathe, my voice breaking. The air in the room stops moving. For all I know, the planets stops turning. I slide my fingers up into his hair, messy and falling over his forehead, and push it back so I can see him. His face. His mouth. The strong cut of his cheekbones. And those eyes. God, those eyes. Everything good I’ve ever known is in them. And holy hell…how did I ever think I could stay away from this man? I must have been out of my mind. I never stood a chance. Not then. Not now. Not ever.
I look into those deep, stormy-gray eyes and watch them shift. I take a breath that feels like the first real one I’ve taken in years. And then
I dive in, no safety net, no looking back.
“I love you too, Ford,” I say, my voice steady now. “I’ve loved you all my life.”
EPILOGUE
3 MONTHS LATER
Ford
The swing set creaks in rhythm with Poppy’s laughter, bright and breathless as I push her higher, her sneakers kicking toward the crisp autumn sky. The air smells like woodsmoke and fallen leaves, cool enough that I can see my breath when I laugh with her. It’s that time of the year when the sun’s dropping low by dinner time, slipping through branches touched with amber and gold, casting the backyard in that fiery autumn haze that makes everything glow.
I look around, still surprised at how quickly Poppy has transformed everything in my life. What used to be just a patch of grass, a fence, and a deck I never used has been taken over by chalk drawings smeared across the patio stones, daisies blooming along the fence line, and a pink soccer net in the middle of the lawn. It’s lived-in. It’s ours.
I glance toward the deck where Landyn is curled into one of the Adirondack chairs, white socks pulled up to her calves and a plaid blanket draped across her lap. A steaming mug rests on the table beside her, the scent of coffee carriedon the cool breeze. She’s smiling—that soft, easy smile that still hits me square in the chest. I’ve had her back in my life for months now, and it still knocks me out cold.
I slow the swing, letting Poppy drag her toes along the grass to stop herself. She hops off and bolts across the yard with a squeal, not toward me, but toward the wiggling black-and-white puppy tumbling over its own paws to greet her.
“Pancake!” she calls, laughter spilling out of her as she drops to her knees. The pup’s ears flop as he bounds into her arms, tail wagging furiously. She scoops him up, his spotted fur pressed to her cheek, and he rewards her with an eager lick that makes her giggle even louder.
