Page 37 of Where the Little Birds Are (Little Bird Duet 2)

All I can do is gape at him. We watch each other with mixed emotions on our faces, his coated with something far lighter than mine. He’s genuine about this. And I…

Taking a deep breath, I force myself to close my eyes and block him from my vision. “I hate this. What are we doing, Corbin? This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. We’re supposed to fall in love and fight for each other. We let each other go instead. We lived two different lives. We moved on … or tried to. I hate that this is our story. Our legacy. I just…” I sniffle back tears. “I want so badly to hate you right now.”

“But you don’t.”

I refuse to speak.

“You love me, Little Bird.”

Nothing.

“I hate—”

A warm breath caresses my ear. “There’s more passion in hate, more fire,” he whispers against my lobe. “So, maybe you do hate me and my logic. But every time you say I hate you, I’ll know you burn for me.”

I let out a ragged breath.

His lips brush my cheek, then trail closer and closer to my lips. “So, tell me. Where is our story going next?”

He stops at the corner of my lips, which part to feel his breath radiate from them. I can practically taste him and it hurts.

I’ll know you burn for me.

“I don’t know,” I admit, afraid to open my eyes and look at the last person I should want.

“Look at me.”

My lids twitch.

His teeth nip at my bottom lip, causing me to suck in a breath and arch my pelvis into his as he rolls my lip into his mouth and suckles. When he lets go, I make a disgruntled noise. “I need you to open your eyes, Little Bird.”

I know what he’ll say.

I don’t know if I can handle it.

But I obey.

I peel open my lids and meet the silver color that weakens my knees and drives me mad. Locking my gaze with his, I feel his hands let go of my wrists and wrap around my waist. Our bodies pressed together soothes my internal turmoil, and the burn he knows I hold deep inside sparks for him.

Caressing my sides, he delivers the three words I’ve told myself not to accept. “I love you. You can push me away, hate me, question me, but I will always be here. Right here. This is where I want to be—where my little birds are.”

He cements his statement by pressing his palm against my stomach between us, holding onto the being that ties us together forever.

He’s always been right.

We’re inevitable.

My office floor is littered with plastic totes full of odds and ends that I refused to look through since packing them away. Their familiarity quickens the pace of my heart as I dig through the old memories and pull out the burgundy notebook that both Corbin and I know well.

“Gavin tried getting me to throw this stuff out when he helped me move,” I say, staring at the notebook before turning it to where Corbin stands at the doorway.

His lips part. “Is that…?”

Walking in, he takes it from me and studies the gold lettering that says Most of all let love guide your life. Flipping through the full pages of blue and black ink, he shakes his head as his lips tug into the smallest smile.

“You kept this?” His eyes scan the handwritten words filling each page, looking between it and me when realization dawns on him. “This is the book, isn’t it?”

My cheeks pinken, as I go back to dig through my bins. Silver bows, and smaller plastic containers holding origami birds from high school makes a lump form in my throat.

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