Page 86 of Setting Limits

“I missed you, Chels.”

“I missed you, too. What are you doing here?” May as well jump right to the point.

“I’m back.”

“What do you mean,you’re back?”Back for what? A visit? A quick fuck?

“I’m here, for good.”

“How?”

“I quit.”

Taking a step back, I have to look Wes in the eyes. But he refuses to let me go, and his hands wrap around my waist, his thumbs hooking into the waistband of my jeans. “What do you mean, youquit? Wes, that job was your life. It’s why you left. How could you just give it up so cavalierly?”

“Because I left something far more important behind. Because I left mylifebehind. That job wasn’t it, Chelsea. You are.”

“Me?” How is that possible? I’m nobody’s life. I’m not that important to anybody. Besides, he made it clear I wasn’t when he left.

“Yes, Chelsea. You. It didn’t take me long to realize what an idiot I was being, leaving you behind. While I felt like we could have made long distance work, that we could have figured out a way, you didn’t, and leaving wasn’t the right choice.”

“But what are you going to do now? That was your career, grad school.”

One shoulder lifts in a shrug, and he tightens his hands. “I’ll figure it out, Chels. There are plenty of opportunities here too.”

I pull my lip between my teeth and start to worry it. This is the perfect set up for him to resent me in the future, whether that be a few months, a year, a few years. I’d be the horrible person that made him give up his life, his future, to be stuck in some small town with a wife and a few kids instead of having the hot shot career he wants.

Two large hands cup my face and I’m tilted to meet Wes’s deep eyes. My fingers curl around his wrists as I ground myself to him.

“Chelsea. I love you. I want you, I want a life, a future with you. Anything I’ve given up is replaceable andworthsacrificing for a future with you. Trust me on that.”

“I don’t want you to resent me for what you’ve given up.”

“I won’t. Sweetness, I promise I won’t. You didn’t ask me to. I did it willingly, to get you back. And I’d make that choice a million times over. You’re endgame, Chelsea. That job, it’s just a job. I can make my career anywhere. And with you is where I want to be, where Ineedto be. That job, any job, isn’t worth jackshit if I don’t have you with me on the journey.” My eyes flutter shut for a brief moment as my heart makes the same sensation in my chest.

“You’re serious.”“OfcourseI’m serious. Why wouldn’t I be?” His brows furrow together, and he shakes his head slightly with a small grin on his face.

I’m silent, and he pulls my face back to look at me.

“Oh, Chelsea. You’re so much more than you realize or give yourself credit for. You’re not a selfish bitch. I mean, yes, you can be, but so can everybody. You’re sweet, caring, thoughtful. You’re a devoted and loving friend and have become that kind of sister. Even if you still give Lochlyn a hard time sometimes, you love him. And while we didn’t see eye to eye on my move, I know you love me and support me and that it came from a place of fear and life experience.”

How can he not only know some of those things, but see them—and me—so clearly? I’m sure he always has, but he’s never really told me these things. The sort of things that Lochlyn told me about Shay a year ago. The things I had wanted nothing more than for a boyfriend to say about me. And here he is, not only saying them about me, but to me.

“I love you.”

“Oh, sweetness. You have no idea how much I love you. The second I landed in California, I knew I made a mistake. I knew it was wrong. I really think I knew well before then, but couldn’t face it, couldn’t accept it. I’d never needed a woman as much as I need you. I didn’t want to let myself, despite how much I love you. I didn’t want to be making choices based on you. But then something clicked, and I realized that’s the only way. The only way for me to be truly happy.”

Some part of me still can’t believe a word I’m hearing. He wants all of these things withme?

And yet here he is, standing in front of me and holding onto me so tightly it’s like he can’t imagine ever letting me go again, telling me all the ways he loves me and needs me.

“Please, say something. Tell me I didn’t come all this way and quit my job to make a fool out of myself.”

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

His eyes light up. “Of course.”

“I’ve missed you. All the time, I’ve missed you, but especially at night.”

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