“Wh-what?’
“You were right. I am a coward. I lied to you. I told you I couldn’t love you. I told you I couldn’t stay here.”
It was my turn to ask the question. One small word that held such potential for the future.
“Why?”
“Because I was fucking terrified, Ava. I still am. Of the way I feel about you. How much I need you. I have never needed anyone. Ever. My mother taught me that lesson, burned it into my soul. But you showed up in my life, and suddenly, I needed you every fucking day. Nothing seemed complete or right if it didn’t involve you—no matter how I tried to fight it. I even lied to myself, thinking you were just an itch I needed to scratch. Someone I could walk away from.”
His intense gaze locked with mine, and I couldn’t tear my eyes from his.
“I need your smile, your sass. I need you to put me in my place. Tease me. I need your touch. Jesus, you make me feel so much with just a touch.” He shook his head. “And your family. Your fucking wild, intrusive family. I’ve never wanted to be part of something as much as I want to be part of them. To be accepted and be in on the family jokes and stupid barbecues.”
I was stunned. Unable to speak.
“You make me weak. You make me want things I was told I can’t have. Things I didn’t think I deserved or even existed.” He pointed toward the bluff. “I read those letters last night, then opened your envelope. All of them contained love. For me. For over thirty years, my grandfather hoped I would show up. He loved me that whole fucking time, and my mother stole that from me. You loved me all these months without asking for anything in return.”
Tears formed in my eyes at his words. He was pouring out his heart to me, but I still wasn’t sure why. Was this an apology? Was he still leaving?
“I opened your letter from my grandfather too. He knows everything you did for him. He made you the second beneficiary and left you the house in case, eventually, one day, I did find my way back—even after the ten years had passed. He told you to read all the letters so you would understand me.” His voice caught. “He said if I showed up, he hoped you’d love me. He asked you to give me a chance. He thought maybe I’d be difficult, given how I was raised.” He drew in a long breath. “I think his words were, ‘Given his DNA, he’ll be a pigheaded idiot.’”
A giggle-sob escaped my mouth. “They were not.”
“Swear to God, they were.”
“What else did he say?”
“So much. I have so much to tell you. So much I want to share. If you agree.”
“Agree?”
“To give me a chance.”
“You need to say exactly what you mean, Hunter.”
He dropped to his knees in front of me. “I want to grow old with you. Eat dinner for four every Friday and get sucked into your family so deep, I don’t remember anything about growing up. I want to belong to you. For this place to be where I belong. I’m tired of being alone.” He cupped my face, his hands shaking. “You’re my beginning, Ava. I want you to be my end and everything in between. I love you, Little Dragon. Everything about you.”
I clutched his wrists, desperate to believe his words. “Am I enough for you?”
“You’re perfect for me.”
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want to stay. Let me stay, Ava. Hold me and never let me leave.”
I flung my arms around his neck.
“Yes.”
* * *
Hunter
Ava lay in my arms, the storm outside beating against the windows, the waves crashing on the rocks and sand below. The wind was so loud it roared in its ferocity, shaking the glass and bending the tree branches low to the ground with its anger.
But inside the house, we were at peace. After we left the beach and came up to the house, we talked. I showed her the pile of letters. Let her read the one my grandfather had written her.
She giggle-snorted at his request to try to love me.
“That would have been awkward if you’d shown up with a wife and kids.”
I had to laugh as I kissed her. “Pretty sure he knew that possibility was low.”
We were both exhausted, so as the clouds gathered and the light turned gray, I pulled her to the bedroom and tugged her into my arms on the new bed.
“The house is so lovely,” Ava murmured. “Liv did a great job.”
“You like it?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t hesitate. “Enough to live here?”
She tilted up her head. “What?”
“Would you leave your family’s compound and live here with me?”
“You want me to live with you?”