Page 90 of Play for Power (Central Sparks #3)

Well fuck that. I slam my drink down, feeling appropriately buzzed, my heart racing in my chest. The feel of my feet hitting the ground is the only thing stopping me from descending into a panic.

There is nothing for me in this bar. I don’t want to be this person, I want…I want the life I could have had if I’d chosen Caleb. I want him.

But it’s terrifying because if I run out that door… no. I don’t let the fear take over. Because I’m choosing Caleb.

I choose him.

I stand from my stool, feeling the intensity of Stella’s stare fixate on me.

I give her a wink, and her responding little smile puts us on the same page as I walk with purpose to the front of the venue.

It’s almost like the skies feel the ache in my chest as the clouds open up and the rain begins to pour.

“Oh, that is so fucking cliché.” I look up at the storming clouds, thankful that it’s more of a light drizzle than a full-on downpour, but I don’t let it stop me.

I turn in the direction of his apartment and keep going.

I don’t want to run, because I want to have my breath when I find him, So I can tell him I’m sorry, that I was wrong.

But with each block I pass, his apartment feels farther and farther away.

Eventually. My fast walking does turn into a run.

I round a corner, too busy swiping wet hair and water from my face that I miss the person rounding the corner at the same time and we shoulder check each other. The air is momentarily knocked out of me and I spin to apologize before coming to a complete standstill.

Because it’s him…he’s here. He looks like he’s on a mission himself, giving me only a double take after I’m already standing frozen in place.

“Rosie?”

“Hey,” I whisper softly over the sound of the light patter of rain.

The two of us look ridiculous, wet and drenched, standing three feet apart while the rain surrounds us.

But I’m completely entranced by those eyes that gleam with determination.

He pulls back his hood and his messy hair dampens with each drop of rain.

“What…what are you doing?” He shakes his head like he’s trying to think straight, and I can feel the tears now forming in my eyes. One betrays me and drops down my cheek. “Is everything okay?” he asks, his brows puckering in concern as his eyes do their usual full sweep of my face.

“No.” I shake my head, trying to stop the sobbing.

“It’s not.” I can’t shake the tears that won’t stop falling, but I almost feel warm under his gaze, I feel right.

I never wanted to be vulnerable like this.

I was afraid to let myself let someone in like this.

But I’m not afraid anymore. Looking into his eyes right now, I’ve never felt more at home. “You walked away.”

“Why are you crying? What happened?” He steps a little closer.

“I went to the bar. I wanted to forget everything.” I know he knows what I mean because I can see the clench of his jaw and his hands tightening into fists by his side.

“I know.” There is an edge to his words as he speaks.

“You do?”

He blinks, slowly, taking his sweet time to explain himself. “I went to find you. Addison wasn’t sure…but then Stella texted me.” That traitor. I’ll have to thank her for that later.

“You came looking?”

He basically snorts at my question, his hands resting on his hips as he looks away, shaking his head.

But after a moment, he lets his stunning, almost-purple eyes find mine again, and his face softens into something like pain…

and a whole lot of longing. “I’ll always come after you, Rosie,” he says softly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, I’ve been an idiot, but I came.

For you. Because everywhere I go, my eyes search for you, the same way my heart does. ”

“I left the bar to come find you too.” He blinks, his lips pressed into a firm line that tells me…

he doesn’t quite believe me yet. “I don’t want to fight it.

I don’t want to hide or think about consequences anymore.

” I can’t help the sob that leaks from my lips.

I let myself step forward, nearly leaping with joy when he doesn’t back away.

“I want to let go and I want this for me. For us.” The two of us seem to be a little lost for breath, the rise and fall of his chest matching mine.

“Play one more game with me?” I breathe the words, and it feels like the world freezes for a moment as his eyes continue to bounce between mine.

And then I breathe, because he steps forward. “Stakes?” The tiniest little tip of the corner of his lips has hope blasting to life in my chest. I suppress all my fears and I look him dead in the eyes.

“Love me. When it’s hard, and I’m failing, love me anyway.

While I’m learning how to show you my heart, while I’m busy crumbling the walls I’ve spent twenty years building, please ”—my eyes close as another silent sob racks through my body—“just love me anyway. And if you do, I’ll love you right back.

” I watch his chest rise and fall faster, his eyes never straying.

I place my hand on the center of his chest, needing to ground myself.

The immediate warm press of his hand on top of mine, holding it against him as he steps closer, warms me to my very bones.

In this moment I’m not nervous or afraid, and for once in my life I am completely and utterly certain about what my future holds, and it’s in the palm of my hand.

“I love you, Caleb. And I’m scared as hell to love you, to want you.

To let you all the way in. But I want to.

I want everything that comes with having you.

I want to love you deeply…I just don’t know how yet.

But I’m going to try. I just need you to love me while I learn how to do this.

” Seeing the spark of life return to his eyes makes the rain feel like soft clouds as it forms around us, feeling like the only two people in the world.

“I left the bar because my heart searched for you too. I couldn’t find you and everything felt wrong.

The only time anything in my life has felt right, has felt like it’s truly been mine, is when it’s you.

” Each word feels like a weight lifting from my chest and I can feel the tears of relief sliding down my face together with the rain.

The two of us are drenched and panting, our hearts almost beating in sync now, mine nearly leaping out of my throat when I close my eyes and feel the warm press of his hands on my cheeks.

His thumbs swipe my tears, lingering on my freckles.

I let my eyes open, and Caleb’s full, brimming smile hits me like a breath of fresh air and I nearly sob all over again.

“Rosebud.” He whispers my name like a prayer.

“I knew you were secretly obsessed with me.” I don’t have a chance to laugh or tease him because, with the last word, Caleb takes my lips in his, closing the final distance.

His body envelops mine in warmth and love as he seals every word like a promise.

His kiss is hard and full of so much hope.

I kiss him right back, my hands clenching in his shirt and pulling him against me like a goddamn lifeline.

I kiss him with the heat from my pain, with apology and remorse.

I swipe my tongue with his in promise of what we are, of what we’ll be, and everything we never thought we’d have.

We crash together like a summer storm, and I’ve never felt like I belonged more than I do right now, in his arms.

“It’s always you, Rosie,” he whispers against my lips, his forehead against mine and his eyes squeezed closed.

“I need you too. I’m so fucking in love with you.

” His lips descend onto mine again. Finally I can see the future I am destined to live, and for once I don’t want to run and hide from it.

Instead, I want to run toward it. Headfirst and with Caleb’s hand in mine.