She blinks. “Well, you must really like Whiskey Run to move here.”
I shake my head. She still doesn’t get it. “No. I mean I like Whiskey Run, but the correct way to say it is I must really love you to move here.”
She gasps. “You love me? But we just met...”
I shrug. That same thing has crossed my mind. “I told myself the same thing, but you know what? It doesn’t matter. I know how I feel, April, and I love you. I can’t leave you and go to Texas. Fuck, I hate being away from you during the day. I can’t imagine not seeing you.”
She’s speechless, and I try to keep myself calm. “I know it’s fast, and I know you may not be ready. There’s no pressure. I just want you to give us a chance.”
She moves quickly into my lap, and I hold on to her as she blurts out, “Move in here.”
Her arms are around my neck, and I have to lean back to see her face. “Move in here?”
She nods quickly. “You haven’t signed the lease yet... I mean you don’t have to... I just thought—”
I grip my hands on to her waist. “I didn’t want to pressure you... I want you to be sure.”
She takes a deep breath. “I’m sure. That’s the thing I was going to tell you... the thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You were going to invite me to move in?”
She shakes her head. “No, I really didn’t get that far. I was going to tell you how I felt. I didn’t think I had the right to make you choose between me and being with your family.”
I nod even though I don’t agree with her logic. She has the right to everything as far as I’m concerned. “Okay, so tell me.”
Her eyes widen, and she starts to stutter. “I uh, I planned it all out but uh...”
I don’t want to make her nervous. “It’s okay, you don’t have—"
But she interrupts me. “I love you. I was going to tell you that, and then I was going to suggest we still see each other. I checked on times I could come to Texas, and I thought you could come visit too.”
I push the hair away from her face and hold the side of her head. “I like that first part. I love hearing you say the words. But not the second part. It’s not an option for me, April. I can’t be that far away from you.”
“So move in.”
“Are you sure?”
She doesn’t even hesitate. “Yes, I’m sure. I love you, Matt. I want us to be together.” She bites her lower lip. “But your family is going to hate me for taking you from them.”
I pull her to me and lie back on the couch, cradling her head on my chest. “They’re not going to hate you. They’re going to love you. They just want me happy, and you make me happy.”
She rests her chin on my chest and looks up at me. “You make me happy too.”
“Plus... eventually, when you’re ready for it, I want you to be my family too.”
Her eyes darken. “Yeah, I like that.”
I rub my hands up and down her back. “So we should probably celebrate, don’t you think?”
“Oh yeah? What are you thinking?” she asks.
Before she can even get it all out, I’m cupping her between the thighs. “You know what I want.”
Her hips jerk. “Me too.”
I pull her up the length of my body, and we’re molded together. None of the decisions I’ve made were made lightly. I truly believe that April’s the one. “I love you.”
She nods. “I know.” She pushes off me and stands up, holding her hand out. “Come on, big boy, I’m going to let you prove it to me.”
I jump up and chase her to the bedroom. I’m going to prove it to her. Over and over, until she feels so loved, so cherished there’s absolutely no doubt in her mind we belong together. I don’t care if it takes forever.
Epilogue
April
I can barely contain myself. It’s been a month since Matt made the decision to stay in Whiskey Run. He spends his days working out with the guys from his team that live in Jasper and doing marketing spots and interviews.
He had to travel out of town last weekend, and it was pure hell. He definitely made the right decision in staying here. We would have been miserable apart.
Tonight I told him I had a surprise for him, and we traveled the hour to Whiskey Valley. We have our friends with us. Violet and Josh are here. Emery and Becca came, and it thrilled me that we were finally able to get Becca out of the house. Too bad Tara couldn’t make it, but she had plans with her boyfriend.