Page 155 of Bitter When He Begs

I just say it again.

“I love you, Sage.”

He sucks in a stuttered breath. “Luca—”

“Let me say this,” I interrupt, because if I don’t, I might never get the words out the way they need to be said. “I don’t even think I had a heart before you came along. You make me want to be better. To besomeonebetter. And I don’t—” I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do with that. All I know is that I don’t want to fucking lose it.”

He swallows, lips parted, eyes so glassy it makes my throat tighten.

“I love how you fight for me and with me. I love how you care about people, even when they suck. I love that you never pretend to be less than what you are just to make someone else feel better about themselves. I love that you call me out when I’m being a dick, and I love that you never back down, even when you’re scared.”

I brush my thumb across his cheek, where his blush is blooming all the way to his ears now.

“You’re it for me, Sunshine,” I whisper. “You’ve been it from the second you looked at me like I was something worth seeing.”

Sage is frozen, still processing, his fingers tightening around the blanket, his whole face pink and stunned.

Then, finally—

“Holy shit,” he breathes.

I huff a laugh, shaking my head. “That’s it?”

“Holy shit,” he says again, softer this time like he’s barely breathing. “You—you loveme?”

I meet his eyes, my chest tight but certain. “Yeah,” I say, with no hesitation this time. “I fucking love you.”

Then Sage launches himself at me.

Luca

Sagecrashesintome,clutching my hoodie, kissing me like I just flipped his whole world upside down. My boy is pissed.

Like, actually pissed. Which issofucking him.

And I don’t know whether to be amused or fucking worried because he’s still on top of me, his hands clenched in my button-down, his mouth parted, and his big brown eyes locked onto mine.

“Youasshole,” he croaks, his voice breaking halfway through, thick with emotion he’s clearly trying to wrestle into submission. “You arrogant, egotistical, smug piece of shit.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “That’s how you’re gonna start this?”

He sits up straighter, throwing his glasses aside, and wiping at his cheeks like he’s mad at them for betraying him. “Yes. Because you are exactly the kind of guy I swore I’d never fall for. You walk around like the world should bend over backward for you, and then somehow,somehow, you actually manage to make it happen.”

“I mean, I am kind of charming—”

“Shut up,” he snaps, but it’s not mean. His voice cracks again, and he sniffs. “You ruined me. You ruined every plan I had. And now I’m in love with you, and I can’t do anything about it because I’m already so far gone, it doesn’t even fucking matter.”

My heart stutters like it forgot the rhythm it’s been keeping since I met him. He says it like he’s mad at himself for it. Like he didn’t want to fall but tripped anyway and is still pissed that I caught him.

And I’ve never loved him more.

“I had a plan. I was gonna graduate, make documentaries no one watches, live in an overpriced shoebox apartment, and maybe adopt a cat. And then you happened.” He jabs a finger in my chest. “With yourstupidsmile and yourstupidconfidence and yourstupidloyalty and hugs and hoodies that I wasn’t fucking ready for.”

I blink down at him, stunned and so fucking full of him it hurts, because even though his words are wrapped in exasperation and cursing, I can hear what’s underneath them.

“You’re supposed to be this reckless disaster. The quarterback, the guy who fucks and forgets. I was supposed to hate you.”

“You did hate me.”