Page 59 of The Shift Between Us (Covewood #2)

She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she quickly blinks her eyes, attempting to hide her emotions. I can’t take the distance any longer as I make my way across the room until I’m in front of her.

There’s a moment where I wonder if she wants me to be here, but then she leans into me, and that’s all it takes. I wrap my arms around her and rest my chin on her shoulder. She sinks into me like she’s exhausted from standing on her own.

“Is everything okay?” I finally ask, moving back so I can look down at her.

“No.” Her bottom lip quivers with the confession.

“What can I do?”

My chest aches at the sheen in her eyes as they drop down to the floor. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, attempting to stop the quivering. I place my hand onto the side of her face and encourage her to look up at me.

“Forgive me,” she says softly, her green eyes lifting to mine.

“Forgive you? For what?” I ask, completely dumbfounded. “Liv, you did nothing wrong.”

“But I did,” she admits, and I move back an inch so I can see her better. “I freaked out when you told me the truth, and I pushed you away.”

My hand slides down to her jaw. “I deserved it, and I understand that you were just protecting yourself.”

Her brows pull together. “But you were right when you said that choosing each other should be easy. I didn’t choose you then.

I chose to hang onto my pain and anger. That wasn’t fair to you, not after you were able to bravely forgive your dad for the awful things he’s done to you.

If you can do that, I can overcome the mistakes from our youth. ”

I lean closer to her, using my free hand to cup her face. “Even though I wish I could change things, I understand that those mistakes had to happen to lead us right here.”

Tears fall from her eyes as she gives me a wide smile.

“Let's finally put this behind us. I never want to waste another second not loving you.”

Olivia nods her head. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Okay, then, I forgive you. Do you forgive me?”

“Yes,” she says in a breathy voice, her eyes dipping to my lips for a second.

“There, it’s done.”

She giggles, and I lean in and place a small peck to the tip of her nose. “It’s that easy, huh?”

“Choosing you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

Olivia’s smile falls from her face, and before she can say anything more, I kiss her. I don’t care what either of us didn’t say in the past. I only care about what we tell each other now. Our kiss is slow and tender. It’s I'm sorry. I choose you. I missed you. I love you.

It’s acceptance. It’s our future.

I think about how much has changed within the past few days.

How Olivia has softened me in ways I never thought were possible.

Until her, I was hardened by the lie that I didn’t deserve her love, but no matter what I tried, she has always been able to love me so effortlessly. I will always do the same for her.

Olivia’s hand slides into the collar of my shirt, squeezing the back of my neck and pulling me closer to her.

My lips leave hers to trail across her jawline, along her collarbone, down her shoulder.

I’m discovering the places that make her gasp or squirm and tucking it away for later.

It takes everything in me to pull myself away from her.

I can’t stop looking at her, not just because she’s beautiful—though she absolutely is—but because she’s here. After everything. After I pushed too hard, said too little, and let the silence between us stretch so wide I thought it might swallow us whole.

She stayed.

“I love you,” I say breathlessly.

Olivia blinks away the haze from her eyes and blesses me with a bright smile. The faking, the lies, and the holding back is gone.

“I love you too.” She leans up, and just before our lips touch again, the bedroom door swings open, and we turn to see Raine and Ryland staring at us.

“This room is already taken,” Ryland whispers.

Raine gently elbows Ryland, shaking her head, and says, “We got a bit suspicious when you both never came back to the table.”

“Can it be our turn now?” Ryland adds, sending us all into a fit of laughter.

“Hey, are you all having a makeout party without us?” Zane pops his head over Ryland’s shoulder, giving us all a smug grin, before he waltzes into the room with Ashton behind him.

“I’m not making out with you,” Ashton adds and crosses his arms together.

Zane grabs his chest, pretending to be in pain. “That’s just hurtful, man.”

“Did you two finally kiss and make up?” Ashton asks, ignoring Zane.

“Yes,” Olivia and I both say at the same time, grinning up at each other.

“It’s about time. Can we go look at the Christmas lights now?” Zane shouts, tossing a thumb behind his shoulder toward the door.

We usher Zane out the door, but before we leave, Ryland and Raine wrap Olivia and I into a big hug. “This makes me so happy,” Raine squeals, squeezing us tighter.

“Me too,” Ryland adds, giving my shoulder a pat before he releases us.

“Come on!” we hear Zane call impatiently from the hallway.

Raine rolls her eyes as Ryland barks out a laugh, swinging his arm around her shoulder and stepping into the hallway.

It brings a certain lightness to my chest, thinking about everything Raine and Ryland had to overcome to get to the good place they’re in now.

I look down at Olivia, taking in her joyful smile, the way her hand intertwines with mine, and realize we, too, are finally in our good place.

In the middle of grief, of chaos, of everything we weren’t…we’ve found our way to everything we were meant to be. Somewhere in all the wreckage, we’ve found love waiting for us. This time, we are finally choosing each other.