Page 154 of Chalk Outline

“I understand you’re overwhelmed with emotions after seeing I’m alive and getting me back, after learning the truth about yourself, and hearing my stories these past few days. I want you to do what’s right for you, and I will accept the outcome.”

He said he missed me, and now he’s telling me he’s no good for me because it will never be easy for us. Fuck that. It was never easy to begin with. Someone kidnapped me as a baby, and a random woman rescued and raised me. Now I call her Grandma.

My hands fly up, locking around his neck. “I chooseyoubecause I wantyou. No one else.”

“I will never let you go if you stay.”

“Reeve Hardy, we both know that no matter what I choose, you will never let anyone else have me.”

He wraps his arms around my waist and looks fiercely into my eyes.

“We’re getting to know each other all over again. Experiencing life without you was a harsh reality check—it wasn’t the life I wanted,” I add. “I’ve always loved you. You sparked my curiosity when I first met you, and after getting to know you, I wanted you to be mine. I wanted you to be my best friend—and I still do. So I don’t care what our lives look like, as long as you’re in my life. I never once thought about walking out on you, so don’t you dare walk out on me—again. If you need me to reassure you a million times, I will. Every. Single. Day. You’re not going to lose me. Never.”

Reeve doesn’t say a word; his eyes do, glinting with admiration and pride, now certain and mesmerized.

I think, for some reason, he was waiting for me to check out, not realizing that I was so deep in it, I kissed his soul a hundred times. Maybe he thought he failed me. Maybe he thought I would hate him for leaving me, and that at some point, I would come to my senses.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

His face falls, and his forehead presses against mine. We pause like this for a moment, absorbing each other’s energy.

His palms curve around my thighs, and with a quick motion, he lifts me to straddle him. I pull his face to mine, crushing my lips against his. I’m starved for our kiss, and he’s hungry for my attention. I lock my ankles as he carries us into the tower, fumbling with the keys, but when he unlocks the door, he rushes up the stairs to the second floor, kicking our shoes off.

We’re a stumbling mess, wobbling on our toes until we collapse onto the mattress, ready to scrape each other’s skin and share our DNA.

I press my hand to his chest, feeling his tension fade under my touch. “You can’t get rid of me,” I whisper.

He sees himself as a monster, and that’s something we need to work on as a team. I need to heal, too. But it’s not going to happen today or tomorrow. We just have to give it time.

“When you let your bird fly, if she comes back to you, she’s really yours and free,” he says softly as his eyes meet the question forming in mine. “I’m not the best, but I promise to be good to you.”

“But you are. I will prove it to you.”

Chapter thirty

Reeve Hardy

This Love Will Last — Chris Isaak

Beads of sweat roll down my chin, some sliding down my back. I turn on the tap, fill my bottle with water, and then chug it all quickly.

My eyes track the loud gunshots outside the window, and I can’t help but smirk when I see Winona start shooting again. She sneezes for the hundredth time today while loading another magazine.

It’s late August, and Winona has seen the forest transition from one season to the next.

She’s becoming bolder, freer, and more daring. She made me take her to her tower a few times so she could go on the zipline again. We practice shooting, martial arts, and how to ridiculously turn each other on almost every day.

As promised, we’ve gone on many dates and explored parts of the forest. We decorated the walls with her sketches; she drew one of our boy, Titan. We miss him so much. The rest are seductive sketches of us in all kinds of positions, along with others of me, because the girl is obsessed, too. I appreciate that she doesn’t deny it either. She’s proud of me, of being with me.

My chest expands when that hits something deep within me.

I let her see more of my inner scars each day, and she allows me to kiss hers lovingly.

Despite everything I’ve put her through, I watch her slowly bloom every day. She gave me a chance, but there’s still a pang in my chest that won’t let me rest.

The mission isn’t over yet.

I step out the door and walk toward her, flicking my hat backward. She melts into me as I come up behind her.