Bloom
This is the point where I tell her my story.
I step back so I can look down at her. “Athena.”
Her eyes find mine. “I’m going to be okay.”
I nod. “You’re strong. Listen, I want to tell…”
“My birthday is next Sunday,” she blurts out. “We’re having dinner at Nova. My family is having dinner there at seven. I’d like you to come.”
I swear to God, my heart stalls inside my chest.
I know this has to be big for her. It’s big for me. I don’t hesitate because this is the first step on a path I want to take. I want a future with her. I need a future with her.
My past can wait.
“I’ll be there, lilac.”
She leans up to sweep her lips over mine in a soft kiss. “Thank you, Liam.”
Thank you, Athena, for giving me a reason to hope.
I hold onto those words as we fall onto her bed, and her hands drop to my belt.
Chapter 47
Athena
I rush back into Wild Lilac after spending an hour in bed with Liam.
He ate me to an orgasm before I sucked him off.
He didn’t have a condom, and the ones I still have in my nightstand drawer wouldn’t fit.
He tried, and we laughed at the fact that they were too small.
It didn’t matter.
It was still magical and perfect in every possible way.
I walked back to the store feeling as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Liam knows that my parents have made horrible mistakes, but he didn’t judge me because of them.
I still saw adoration in his gaze. I still felt tenderness in his touch.
He agreed to meet my family next week.
Maybe my twenty-fourth birthday will be the start of the best year of my life.
“You’re back,” Leanna singsongs from behind the table. “Your cheeks are flushed. Your hair is messed up. It looks like you had a good time with that gorgeous man of yours.”
I fumble with something to say. “We…I…”
“You don’t owe me an explanation.” She sighs. “I think you should duck out of here more often to meet him.”
I think so too.
“Al is on his way over.” She points at the coolers. “I got everything done, so we are ready to hit the road for deliveries.”
“What would I do without you?”