Page 126 of Don't Say You're Sorry

After a while, he gently pulls out and kisses my face. “Don’t move,” he says, getting up and going into the bathroom. He returns a moment later with a warm washcloth. Kneeling between my legs, he takes his time cleaning me up. The warmth feels amazing on my sore flesh, and I shiver, melting into the sheets.

He kisses my hip, and I run my hand through his hair.

I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve him. I sure as hell haven’t earned him in this one, but I’m going to work my ass off paying my dues to whatever or whoever gifted him to me. Fate? Destiny? Dumb luck? I don’t know, and I don’t care. Easton is mine. That’s all that matters.

He tilts his head to the side, and it’s only now I realize he’s staring at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You still don’t see it, do you?”

This again.

“You’re beautiful,” he says simply. “Inside and out.”

I shake my head. Surely he doesn’t still believe that. Not after everything I’ve done.

He sighs. “I was wrong.You’rethe lost cause.”

I laugh.

He doesn’t. “I’m serious, Adam. Why do you refuse to see how perfect you are?”

I swallow. “Why do you care so much about this?”

“Because I want you to love yourself as much as I love you. I want you to see what I see when I look at you.”

My heart swells.

I open my mouth to make a joke about loving myself, but the look in his eyes stops me. He’s not letting me off the hook.

“How do you not see it?” he asks again.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I fixate too much on the mistakes I’ve made, I guess.”

“There’s your first clue,” he says, giving me a pointed look. “Only good people do that. You’re not a bad person, baby.You’re beautiful,” he says again, “inside and out. It’s why I chose you.”

He chose me.

Maybe it wasn’t fate, or destiny, or dumb luck that won me this sweet, perfect guy. Maybe it was Easton who looked at me one day and thought,Him. I want that one. And the universe said,Not sure why, but whatever.

He narrows his eyes as if he can read my mind. “Tell me something you like about yourself.”

“I like my boyfriend.”

He fails to hide his smile. “Calling me your boyfriend for the first time isn’t going to get you out of this. Try again.”

I twist my lips side to side. Racking my brain, I come up empty. It takes an embarrassingly long amount of time for me to think of something.

“I heard you the day you told me my parents’ divorce wasn’t my fault,” I finally say. “When I really thought about it, I stopped blaming myself.”

He nods, encouraging me to keep talking.

“My dad was the one who cheated,” I say. “He was the one who hit Axel. If I hadn’t told my mum, there’s a chance she’dstill be married to him. She wouldn’t have met your dad, and I never would have met you.” I lift my hand to his face, stroking his cheek with my thumb. “Every time I think about that, I know I did the right thing. I made the right decision.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, lying down on top of me. “You did.”

I lock my arms around his neck. “Happy?”