Page 116 of Don't Say You're Sorry

I snort and shake my head. He doesn’t get it yet, but he will.

Finally alone with Adam for the first time since he uttered those five fateful words, I turn to face him and wrap my hands around his neck, my thumbs brushing his jaw. “You idiot,” I say.

His hands close over mine. “Are you mad?”

Am I? He’s just given me everything I ever wanted—morethan I ever wanted—but at what cost? It’d be selfish of me to admit I’m not mad—not even a little bit—when our family has just been ripped apart from the inside.

“Tell me why you did it.”

His answer is simple. “You weren’t happy.”

I open my mouth to argue, but the look he gives me stops me before I get a word out.

Fine. I wasn’t. Not being able to be with him outside the house was slowly killing me inside, but I thought we were in agreement. I thought I’d have to hide the way I really felt. It was a price I was willing to pay for him.

“You shouldn’t have done that for me,” I say. “I never would have asked you to.”

“I know. That’s why I did it. You would have buried it and put all of us above yourself, forever if you had to. I wanted to put you first for once. I…I chose you.”

My heart hammers inside my chest. I didn’t realize how much those words would mean to me until he finally said them.

He chose me.

“Why? Youhadme.”

“Now who’s the idiot?” He shakes his head, his eyes softening. “That’s not enough. You’re the sun to me, Easton. I hated seeing you so burned out.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Is that why you call me sunshine?”

He looks a little embarrassed. “Maybe.”

“Huh. I always thought it was because of my awesome personality.”

“So modest,” he jokes.

I chuckle and brush his lips with mine, but I don’t kiss him yet. “You were right.”

“About what?”

“I still love you,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I loved you even when I hated you. Even when I thought you’d given up on me, I never stopped loving you.”

He pushes out a breath, his mouth stretching into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. “Thank you,” he whispers back.

“For what?”

“Waiting for me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t.”

“Crashed my wedding, probably. Full-onThe Graduatestyle.”

He laughs and kisses me as if he’s starving for me.

“You hungry?” I ask against his mouth. “You barely ate.”

“Mm. What do you want?”

“One of everything.”

CHAPTER 40