“Ollie will give you two,” I warned her.
“Then stall him.” She smiled, and did this little skip/hop thing toward the other room. “Braid his hair or something.”
“I don’t braid hair,” I scoffed.
“Then learn.” She cackled, closing the double doors leading to her room
I stood there, staring at those stupid closed doors. My heart thumped like an out of control freight train in my chest. Even a stupid conversation like that could rile me up when it came to Ari. My heart was shouting the truth at me, even as I continued to deny it.
She was mine. My perfect other half. The one that completed me.
I scrubbed my hands over my face roughly. I’d known for a while, deep down, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it. I still didn’t. But you can only bury the truth for so long because it always comes back, and she was my truth—the future, the life I’d forced myself to abandon, but there it was right in front of me. Mine for the taking.
And I was finally going to claim it.
***
I took Ari’s hand as we climbed the narrow dirt path up to the jump. Everyone else was up ahead of us, but I’d been more than willing to let them go on.
Ari kept looking down at her feet, careful not to trip on any of the loose rocks.
I didn’t really care about that. I was too busy checking her out. She had her dark hair pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head, her face was clear of any sort of makeup, and I could clearly see a few freckles sprinkled across her nose. She was dressed in a tiny pair of shorts and a black bikini top with some kind of straps crossing over her middle and tied around the back.
“I can feel you staring at me,” she scolded, and her lips lifted into a smile.
“I like looking at you.”
She lifted her eyes to mine. “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, not playing around. “I like spending time with you too.”
I knew I was giving her mixed signals again, with the way I’d been avoiding her before the trip, but I was done with that. I guessed it was about time I told her that too.
I came to a stop on the trail, which forced her to stop too.
“Liam?”
I took a deep breath and braced myself. I had no idea what I was going to say, and knowing me, it was probably not going to go well. I wasn’t the most eloquent when it came to speaking my mind.
My hand tightened around hers, and I found the words pouring from my mouth. “My feelings for you…they’re…fuck, I don’t even know. They’re out of control, to be honest. When I’m with you I feel the happiest I’ve felt in a long time, like I’m meant to be around you. Fuck,” I pinched the bridge of my nose with my freehand, “that sounded corny. I…I feel like I’m myself when I’m with you, and the thought of losing you fucking scares me. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I think I love you.” I shook my head roughly. “No, I know I love you.”
Ari blinked. Once. Twice. Three times.
Apparently I’d stunned her into complete and utter silence.
“You…you love me?” She stuttered.
I swallowed thickly and nodded. My fear of rejection was growing, but I stamped it down.
Her pink lips lifted into a small, slow smile. “Truth: I love you too.”
I expelled the deepest breath I’d ever held. “You do?”
“Don’t act so surprised, Wade. You’re not that bad.”
I let go of her hand and grabbed her by the waist instead, hauling her up against my body. “Not that bad, huh?” I raised a brow. Before she could respond I lowered my head, covering my lips with hers.
I could count on one hand how many times I’d kissed Ari, and each fucking time it got better.