Her eyes glossed, and she shrugged, nodding. “If you don’t hate me now, yes.”
I almost laughed. “Hate you?” I shook my head, tucking the card in the pocket of my duffle bag before I dropped it to the ground beside us. “I love you, you stupid girl.”
I swept her into my arms in the next instant, half expecting Belle to swat me away or shove space between us, but she wrapped herself around me, too. Her arms draped around my neck, hands threading where they met as I pulled her in even closer. Her warmth and familiar scent wafted over me, and I realized then that it wasn’t a dream.
She was here. She was really here.
She shuddered in my grasp, her tears wetting my t-shirt as I kissed her hair and told her it was okay, over and over, holding her tighter to secure that promise.
And with her in my arms again, I actually believed it, too.
Belle sniffed after a long while, pulling back to peer up at me. “I am so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you came to me after the game last week. I’m sorry I got so fixated on the fact that you lied to me that I didn’t hear you out when you explained why. I’m sorry that I’m so goddamn stubborn that I dug my heels in as if I was stronger if I turned you away after one mistake…” She shook her head, rolling her lips between her teeth. “I really am a stupid girl.”
I chuckled, sweeping her hair back and thumbing her cheek. “You’re not. You had every right to be upset with me. It’s me who should be sorry.” My jaw tightened. “I betrayed your trust.”
Belle shook her head, leaning into where my hand held her face. “It isn’t that big of a deal. I made it a big deal because I wanted to be right. I wanted to have proof that no one could really love me or be true to me, that I would always be just the good-time girl, that I’d be the girl who was lied to and traded in time and time again.” She chuckled. “You know why? Because it’s easier to be that girl. It’s easier to shove you away than it is to admit the truth.”
“And what’s the truth?”
She smiled, and I thumbed away another tear before it could make it past the apple of her cheek. “That I love you,” she said, lips trembling with the admission. “And that I forgive you. And that I’d rather take the risk of losing you down the line than to miss out on the possibility of keeping you forever.”
I smiled on a shaky breath, emotion strangling me at the throat and cutting off my ability to speak. But I held her gaze, held her cheek, held her in every way that I could.
“The other day Gemma was talking about Zach, about the wedding and how they want to have kids soon,” she said. “And… I don’t know much about love. I don’t know how to handle anything that is going to be thrown our way. I don’t know if we’re going to fight and forgive, or if we’re never going to fight again. I don’t know if you’ll be able to put up with me and the scars I’ve carried with me for years.”
I laughed at that, rubbing her cheek to let her know that I loved those scars.
“All I know, is listening to her talk about Zach that way…” Belle smiled, leaning into my hand and closing her eyes to release another flood of tears before she looked at me again. “When I close my eyes and imagine my future?” She shrugged. “I see you in it.”
I closed my eyes, letting out a slow breath and trying not to cry myself. It was all I could do to pull Belle into my chest, to wrap my arms around her, to run my hands back through her hair and tilt her chin up and claim that perfect mouth of hers as mine forever.
She leaned into the kiss with a relieved sigh, nearly collapsing in my arms, but I held her steady and strong as a promise that I always would. I deepened the kiss with my tongue sweeping over hers, and then I picked her up, spinning her just like they did in the movies to the tune of distant cheers from various ends of the parking lot.
Belle blushed when I put her back on her feet, looking around before she buried her face in my chest. “Oh, God. I’m sorry, I’m embarrassing you in front of your team.”
More whistles rang out as I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Feel free to embarrass me any time you want. These clowns are just jealous you’re not theirs.”
She shook her head, leaning back to look at me again. “I’m sorry it took me so long to pull my head out of my ass.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I replied, and I hoped she saw the sincerity in my eyes when I tucked her hair behind her ear. “I can’t promise I won’t be a pain in your ass sometimes, but I promise to never hurt you again. Not like this.”
She nodded, leaning up to kiss my lips briefly before she arched one brow. “So… you’ll be my date to the wedding?”
I scoffed. “Like that’s even a question. You better wear comfortable shoes, because we’re going to be dancing all night.”
“I’m a horrible dancer,” she confessed.
I smirked, kissing her nose. “You can stand on my feet and I’ll do all the work.”
“I’m also sorry I didn’t do some grand gesture,” she added, waving her hand in the air. “I know you love romantic comedies, and I was trying to think of something super cute and clever to do but… well… when it came down to it, I wasn’t patient enough to put a plan together like that. All
