The whistle rang through the crowd between us, and his beard split in a hesitant smile. “Hi.” He looked around nervously. “Um…”
What the hell was going on? The sign hanging on his front had my photo on it and the words “If you see Cooper Heath…” painted on the front in bold letters.
“What is that?” I asked, moving quickly through the crowd between me and the terrace entrance. My heart was beating fast, and I felt a silly giggle bubbling up in my throat. Nine was here. My Nine.
He turned in a circle. “Oh, um, it’s kind of silly, but… I know you wanted a billboard in Hollywood one day, and uh, this is the closest I could come on short notice.”
The back of the board read, “Tell him Nine loves him.” It had little pink hearts hand-painted all around it. It was the gayest thing Isaac Winshed had ever done, and I fucking adored him for it.
He turned back to face me. My hands had flown to my mouth while everyone around me started chattering excitedly and snapping pictures.
He loved me?
He loved me.
Nine’s face was red as a fire engine, and his eyes darted around like ping-pong balls spilled on a concrete floor. “I needed you to know,” he said in a shaky voice. “I needed… I needed you to know.”
Tears streamed down my face. Nine hated attention on him. He hated thinking people were looking at him and judging him. And yet he’d done this for me. Put a damned sandwich board on and walked down the streets of West Hollywood declaring his love for another man.
I let out a mix between a laugh and a sob. “I love you too, you big idiot.”
He seemed surprised by my admission. “What?”
I flapped my hands around. “Take that thing off, I want to hug you.”
“You do? You love me?” he asked while lifting the boards over his head and setting them down. “But I came here to convince you to give me a chance. I want to be with you. I want—oof.”
I slammed into him the moment he was free, wrapping my arms and legs around him and holding on for dear life. “I love you so much,” I said before kissing his gorgeous fucking face. “Love you, love you.”
He held me with those tight bands of muscles and kissed me right there on Melrose for everyone to see, including the clusters of paparazzi gathered just outside the short terrace wall snapping pictures of everything. When I finally pulled out of the kiss, I grinned at him. “You didn’t need to come here though. I was flying home to you tomorrow. I already booked my flight.”
Nine’s face was serious and his eyes intense. “I needed to tell you I’ll do whatever it takes. Whatever will make you happy. I’ll move here and get a job. I already stopped by two hardware stores to ask if they’re hiring.”
More tears spilled down my face. “I don’t want you to live in LA with me.”
His face fell, and I rushed to finish my thought. “No, not that. I don’t want you to move here because I want to be with you. I want to go with you to Minnesota and help you fix up houses.”
His face finally lit up, and his beard finally split into that sexy grin of his. “Really? You’d do that? What about this? What about movies?”
He let my feet drop to the pavement, but I didn’t let him go. I nuzzled my face into his neck and inhaled his woodsy scent. “I don’t want this life,” I whispered so only he could hear it. “I thought I did, but I don’t. I want to keep doing what we’re doing with the vlog and social media. I have a lot of ideas and… and I can still be in front of the camera. But this way I can be in front of the camera as me. And I can be with you at the same time. I want our life together—the one in the clearing. Except I don’t care where it is, as long as I have you.”
He pulled me back and cupped my face. His eyes were locked on mine with a kind of searching intensity. “You sure?”
“I love you,” I said, probably beaming up at him like an idiot. I heard Evie’s squeal in the background.
Isaac’s face softened. “I love you too. More than anything.”
“More than your pride, I see,” I teased. “I can’t imagine this stunt was easy for you.”
Isaac seemed to suddenly realize we were surrounded by people and cameras. Now it was his turn to tuck his face into my neck.
“I think I’m hallucinating,” he whispered. “There’s a woman over there who looks like a famous country singer.”
I stepped away and reached for his hand. I felt lighter and happier than I could remember feeling for a long, long time. “Come on. Let me introduce you to a few people. I can’t wait to show you off to my friends.”