Page 67 of The Fangirl and the Playboy

I shrug. “I don’t know. I thought maybe you were secretly hoping I wouldn’t get it so I could stay here longer. With you.”

Her cheeks brighten with a blush, but she doesn’t evade the subject. “The thought might’ve crossed my mind. But Gavin, I only want you to be happy and successful. When you leave, we can make it work. I know we can. I mean, if that’s what you still want.”

My chest hollows out, my heart leaping up into my throat at her words. She doesn’t want this thing between us to end. She’s willing to go the long distance route, as hard as it would be, to be with me.

“That makes me so fucking happy,” I blurt on a rough exhale, then grip her neck to pull her forward for a kiss.

She melts into it, her hangover apparently forgotten. My brain goes a little haywire as she rolls her hips, grinding herself against me before pushing her breasts into my chest, and my hands slide down to knead her ass.

Shit. No. Not yet. Not until I tell her the rest.

Releasing her ass, I move my hands to her cheeks and cup them firmly before breaking off the kiss and pulling her back so I can meet her eyes.

“I have no doubt that we could make long-distance work, but as it turns out, we won’t have to.”

Her expression pinches as her eyes fill with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean, Willow Bardin, is that I’mnotleaving.”

“But…the show,” she says, shaking her head lightly. “You said it’s filming in the spring.”

“It is,” I say.

“I’m so confused,” she says, and I chuckle before dipping my chin.

“I convinced the powers that be to visit Evening Shade, telling them this is the perfect place to film. My meeting with them last night wasn’t a video chat. They’re here, and they love it. The mayor and town council agreed to make a deal. The paperwork needs to be signed, but for all intents and purposes, we’re a go.”

“That means…you’re not leaving?” she asks in a high, cracked voice.

“I’m not leaving,” I say firmly, and tears spill down her cheeks as she stares at me with hope and wonder.

“You’re going to stay here…with me?” she asks like she needs further confirmation.

“There’s no place else I’d rather be than here with you, Willow,” I say with meaning, then give her a little smirk. “We might have to make trips together to Los Angeles for promotional deals and premiere events, though. Can you handle that?”

“Oh, I can handle it,” she says, her eyes lighting up with joy.

A high-pitched squeal rockets out of her, and she wraps her arms around my neck and squeezes, nearly choking me in the process. I hug her back, laughing at her antics, then grip her shoulders and pull her back so I can meet her eyes. My voice is as solemn as my expression when I speak.

“I need you to understand how serious I am, Willow. I fell in love with you over a decade ago, and I never stopped loving you. Not for a second. This isn’t some fling or fly by night affair. Not to me. I’m in this for the long run. I intend to marry you one day and spend the rest of my life making you deliriously happy.”

Tears are tracking down her face in earnest by the time I finish, and I hold my breath, waiting for her response. This is it. I’ve either solidified our relationship with that little confession, or I’ve scared her away, saying too much, too soon.

But I couldn’t hold it in for another second. I need her to know the truth––that I love her and will never stop. That she’s it for me. My end game.

My very own happily ever after.

I search her watery gaze while she forms a response, my own heart pounding in my chest. Her throat works like she’s trying to swallow back some strong emotion, and I just hope she’s working up some big confession of love and not trying to find the words to let me down gently.

When she finally speaks, my heart explodes in my chest, filling my veins with molten lava.

“I never stopped loving you, either. I tried to move on, I really did, but it never stuck because no one else isyou. Gavin, I love you so much. I always have, and I always will.”

My mouth seals over hers as the last word passes her lips. We kiss with desperation. We kiss with relief.

We kiss with total devotion, lifelong promises, and affection beyond measure.

We kiss with real love. The kind that’s been battered and bruised, but never broken.

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