10 Years Later

Walking back to me, he extended his hand. “May I?”

“May you what?” I teased as a familiar tune surrounded us.

“Have this dance. I blew prom, and we didn’t even get to dance at the reunion. I want my dance now,” he said firmly before grabbing me by the waist and pulling me close.

Lyrics filled the air between us, and I tilted my head. “Is this . . . is this ‘Stand by Me’?”

His lips curled into a smile as he nodded, the unfamiliar voice still singing in the background.

“But who’s singing?” I asked.

“Imagine Dragons. Isn’t it rad?”

I laughed at his word choice. “It is pretty awesome.”

“Now hush and listen to the lyrics.” He lowered his head to rest against mine and we moved together, our bodies swaying to the music.

It was romantic, the two of us dancing alone in my living room to the raspy tone of the lead singer’s voice, the simple lyrics striking a chord within my soul as he belted them out with so much emotion and grit.

“You’re all-in, right?” Dalton said softly against my hair. “You and me. Me and you. No going back.”

“I’m all-in,” I whispered. “No going back.”

I rested my head against Dalton’s shoulder as my feelings for him grew. I didn’t care how crazy it all might seem to an onlooker; they didn’t know my heart. And my heart had wanted this man since I was fourteen years old. It was about damn time it won the fight and got him.

“I hope you’ve got dating out of your system,” he murmured into my ear, “because this is it for you. One penis for the rest of your life.”

“Now who’s the stalker?” I choked on my laugh as it stuck in my throat. “You’ve married us off already and attached me to your penis?”

He leaned back and looked me right in the eyes as I waited for another penis joke. “Married, kids, white picket fence—whatever you want, the whole shebang. It’s okay if you don’t admit that you want it too. I don’t care. I just want you to know my intentions. I want to be very clear about where we’re heading.” He pulled me closer, pressing his lips to my hair as he whispered, “I’ve wanted this for too long.”

“I think you might be moving at warp speed. This isn’t a movie. This is real life, you know?” I warned him jokingly, but every part of me loved his declaration. His words calmed me, giving me the reassurance that I’d needed.

Dalton chuckled. “I think waiting ten years before getting the girl is the exact opposite of warp speed, if you wanna know the truth.”

I leaned in and kissed his delicious lips without another word. There was no way I could disagree with that logic, and hell, I didn’t want to. I didn’t know exactly what the future held for us, even with Dalton’s big plans, but I was excited to find out.

Sometimes life was messy and got in the way. But wasn’t that part of the beauty of falling in love and being in a relationship? You figured things out together as you grew, and faced the challenges that life enjoyed the hell out of throwing at you.

Of course, I knew exactly where I wanted the relationship with Dalton to head, but not anytime soon. We still had a lot of learning to do about each other, and we were just getting started. Ten years was a long time to be away from someone, even if you had love in your heart for them the whole time.

Was I still scared about the possibility of losing him? Hell yes, but I had finally accepted that that fear would exist, no matter what Dalton did for a living. Loving another person brought out fear because you didn’t want to lose them, but I would have to deal with that insecurity regardless, no matter who I loved.

I’d read once that the greater the love, the greater the fear of losing that love. And to me, Dalton was worth it all. He was worth the fight, the risk, the issues that reared their ugly head at times, all of it. And he put up with me, claimed to like it, even. We’d see about that.

But I’ll bet you money that if you go to our twenty-year high school reunion, you’ll see Dalton and me there. Only by then, we will have arrived together, and we’ll be wearing wedding rings.

The End