Page 166 of Already At Risk
Her lips twitched, but she was still looking at me expectantly. So I added, “I promised you slow, so that’s what I’mtrying to give you. I’m here for you, but I don’t have to meet your parents right this second if that’s too much all at one time.”
“It’s not too much.” She said it so quickly my heart skipped a little. “You said this is my moment. With my family. But Cameron, that’s you. This wasourwin forourfamily. And I think…I think you might actually be goingtooslow for me.”
Her eyes were round, getting bigger by the moment, like she was realizing just how true that was right as she was saying it.
“Yeah?”
My breath hitched, my joy bubbling out of me.
It was everything I’d ever wanted to hear. The best thing in the world.
She nodded, leaning into me as though her body could do the talking. No more barriers, she was saying. No more walls. Nothing between us.
“Well, thank you for telling me,” I murmured, struggling to contain my happiness. “I will havenoproblem speeding things up a bit.”
“That sounds nice.” She beamed, flooring me with her enthusiasm. “And I’d really like to introduce you to my parents, if you’re up for it. I’ve told them about you.”
“I’d love to meet your parents,” I said easily. “I’ve told my family about you, too.”
“Yeah?” She pressed her lips together, like that made her happy to think about.
“Yeah, of course.” I smoothed a hand up her back and then down, sneaking my fingers beneath the hem of her blazer and the blouse beneath so I could touch her bare skin. “My Pops wants us to keep him in the loop about a wedding date.”
Her irises bloomed, like greenery coming up to breathe in early spring, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of what I’d said or the skin-to-skin contact. So I stilled, backtracking on both.
“Did I swing too far in the other direction?”
Natalie came out of her shock and giggled. “No, actually.”
God, the pure elation that was radiating from her today was the best thing I’d ever seen.
“No?” I checked and then resumed the gentle way I was trailing my fingers along her lower back.
“No.” She smiled and cocked her head to the side, giving me a thoughtful look. Like she was trying to memorize me. This. “Hey, Cam?”
“Yeah, Sunshine?”
She pushed up onto her toes, as though she needed to be closer to me, like she was telling a secret. “I think I love you.”
I was wrong before.
Thiswas the best thing I’d ever heard or seen.
This expression on Natalie’s face, right now, as she breathed those words.
Holy hell, my heart might not make it through today.
“Oh, Natalie baby.” I laughed because I couldn’t even begin to contain my relief at getting to say the next words aloud. The ones I’d been thinking about for what felt like forever. The ones I’d been holding my tongue so I wouldn’t say them aloud too soon. “IknowI love you. God, I love you so fucking much.”
An adorable, joyful sound spilled from Natalie’s lips, too, and I couldn’t help but drop my hands and scoop her off her feet, spinning us around so I pinned her back against the wall. She hung on to me, arms still locked around my neck as she tipped her face to look at me. I lowered my gaze, our foreheads touching, our breath mingling, and I was about to kiss her when she whispered, “I know I love you, too. I don’t know why I said that.”
I shook my head. I knew she did. I knew it was just taking her longer to trust the truth and our reality. And whether she was ready to admit it or not had never affected the way I felt about her.
“It doesn’t matter either way,” I said honestly and then brushed my lips over hers, unable not to. “I couldn’t get myself to stop falling deeper in love with you if I tried. I just keep falling, and I can’t stop, Natalie. You mean the world to me, and I justwant to get this right. I’m so goddamn determined to get this right. For you and for Chloe.”
“Cameron, you got it right,” she assured me and then mimicked me, kissing the corner of my mouth lightly and then nipping on my bottom lip. “Youalwaysget it right. And Iloveyou, okay? I feel it more and more every single day. I knew I was at risk of falling for you from the moment we met. That’s the truth, and that’s what I ran from that night. But I don’t want to run from it anymore. It’s still big and scary, but it’s also the most comforting thing in the world, the way I love you. The way you love me.”
“Oh my God, Natalie,” I groaned before kissing her hard. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how to comprehend what she’d just said without bursting, so I did the only thing I could think of and kissed her the way I always wanted to from the moment I met her.
