Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
His hand finds mine again and our fingers interlock. We walk leisurely down to the beach and sit close together on the sand. It’s warmer than it has been, but the breeze still makes it a little chilly. The waves roll in easily, lapping against the shore.
“I think the first time I ever saw you, you were right over there,” he says, pointing to an area near an outcropping of rocks. “You were with your friends and laughing. You looked so beautiful, like you didn’t have a care in the world. There were guys walking past you, checking you out, and you seemed oblivious.”
“I was,” I said, thinking back to that day.
“You know, if I could go back to that day, I’d change everything.”
He holds his cone in both of his hands in front of him, his elbows resting against his knees.
“If I could go back to that day, I’d tell you I loved you right off. It might scare you, but you’d know that I was serious. And I’d get a job and save money and get us a house together as soon as I graduated high school.”
He takes off his Golden Gophers hat and puts it on my head, grinning. “I’d move you in with me and away from your parents and take care of you for every day of the rest of our lives. I wouldn’t go to Minnesota, and I wouldn’t worry about being famous. I’d give all of that up just to have you.”
My cheeks ache from smiling, his words something I never thought he’d ever think. It’s the exact thing I’d wished had happened more times than I could count, but never in my wildest dreams did I think he’d wish for that, too.
He leans in to me and kisses me sweetly on the lips. “I wanted to bring you here tonight to tell you that. To tell you if I could take you back here on that day we met, I’d change everything I’ve ever done for you.”
“Oh, Crew,” I say, cupping the side of his face.
“I don’t expect you to say anything,” he says. “I know things are more complicated for you than they are for me. Just know I loved you then and I love you now. As a matter of fact, you’re the only person I’ve ever loved and the only person I’ll ever love.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper, kissing him.
He rests his forehead against mine. “Whatever happens with everything, just know that. Know I love you and that I never loved anyone else. It’s important to me that you know that. Things are going to get really serious with this fight and I want to know that you know that. Okay?”
“About the fight—”
“No. There’s nothing to discuss.”
We watch the waves lap at the beach, the seagulls squawking in the air.
“I’d do anything for you and Everleigh,” he says, almost to himself. “Whatever happens the night of the fight, I want you to know that I made that decision. I’m not going into it thinking it’s gonna be roses.”
“What are you telling me?”
He shrugs. “Nothing in particular. I just want you to know that I’ve considered every angle. I don’t want you to ever think you didn’t argue enough for me to not fight or try to think another way out of this money thing. This wasn’t your choice.” A small smile graces his lips. “This has given me a purpose in life. A way to give my life back the meaning it lost when I lost you.”
“Crew . . .”
“No, it’s true. This is my second chance at so many things, to right some of the wrongs, to put some good into the world . . . and to love you the right way.”
He presses a kiss against my lips, stealing my breath. He starts to say something else when my phone buzzes beside me. I snatch it off the ground, my heart leaping in my chest.
“Hello?”
“I’m sorry to have to call you, Julia,” Olivia says, “but I think you need to come home. Ever’s not well.”
FORTY
JULIA
My chest is warm and not just because Everleigh is curled up on my lap, her face buried into me, sleeping. The peaceful rise and fall of her chest, the way her little lips dip together like she’s kissing, the way her eyelids flutter with her breathing, warm my heart. When she’s sleeping, everything else goes away. The pain on her face, the fear in her eyes, all diminish slightly. I don’t get that relief often anymore. I know she never does. I hope her dreams are as peaceful as they sometimes seem.
Last week we were home and, until the last couple of days, it was bliss. Ever demanded special “daddy time” with Crew. It was my first instinct to object, to panic, but the look on both of their faces when they came into the kitchen and told me they were going to the park stopped me.