Hot, humid air sits heavy all around me, and I realize this place was never home.
Home was where Lucy and Sawyer were. Home was in Lucy’s tiny, grimy apartment with Roman bouncing on her knee.
Home was Woodvale, once Sawyer forgave me. Home was Benji’s arms.
This place? It’s empty.
As my taxi drives through the open gates, I hear another car pull up outside. A second cab moves slowly up the long drive and my heart starts to thump.
I see a man in the back seat, but I’m not sure it’s really him. I won’t let myself believe it. Hope hurts too much when it’s dashed at your feet. My mind is playing tricks on me.
Benji hates me. He wouldn’t be here. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.
Every second that goes by makes my heart beat harder and my mouth turn dry. I stand at the foot of the grand entrance of my childhood home, staring as the car approaches.
It’s not until the driver stops and Benji slides out of the back seat that I really let myself see it’s him. My eyes widen, and words are stolen from my lips.
He’s here.
Here, here, here.
Benji stands up, his broad, strong body calling out to me across the distance. The driver rolls down his window, calling out to Benji. Benji’s head snaps to the man, and he pulls out a couple of bills to pay for the ride. The cab drives away, and I can finally speak.
“Your bags?”
“Don’t have any,” he replies, and his voice feels like warm honey. It coats me in all the sweetness I’ve been missing, and I feel like I can take a full breath for the first time.
He takes a step toward me, and all I want to do is run into his arms. He’s here—that means he forgives me, right? He wants to be with me?
But something holds me back. The house behind me dwarfs us, looming overhead like a bad omen. It represents everything I’ve been trying to get away from. Everything Benji despises. Everything that has been bad in my life.
It’s big and imposing and heavy, and it still technically belongs to me.
Benji doesn’t look at the house, though. His eyes stay glued to me. They sweep from my face, down my body, and back up again. He takes a step toward me, as if some outside force is urging him forward.
“How did you find me?” I ask. My voice is small.
“Sawyer gave me the address.”
His eyes are bright blue. His chest looks like home. His hands call out to me, and I want nothing more than to run into his arms and never leave.
My heart is in my throat, and I’m afraid to move. What if he leaves? What if he turns around and walks away again? What if he rips my heart out of my chest and crushes it between those broad, strong palms of his?
But Benji takes another step toward me, his throat bobbing as he swallows.
“Rae,” he whispers, the sound slicing through the humid air toward me. I breathe in the sound of his voice, feeling my whole body groan in relief.
He takes another step toward me, and I catch the first whiff of his scent. Worn leather. Sandalwood. A hint of oil grease and a whole lot of man.
My voice is gone. What I really want to say is, Do you forgive me? Do you want to be with me? Do you love me as completely as I love you?
“Rae,” he repeats again, sighing as if my name tastes sweet on his tongue. “Forgive me.”
His brows draw together, and he stares at me with those irresistible blue eyes.
“For what?” It’s a breath. A whisper.
“For pushing you away.”
One more step, and he’s in front of me. His hand sweeps over my cheek and it’s all I can do to stay upright. I lean into the touch, letting out a sigh of contentment that only his touch can bring. A smile tugs at my lips, and I let out a soft chuckle.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I say. “Forgive me, Benji. For leaving. For chasing a pipe dream instead of seeing what was in front of me. For wanting something I could never have, when you’re even better, and you were standing right in front of me.”
Benji’s hand sweeps back to the nape of my neck, and I let my hands slide up his chest. His body is warm. His heart thumping. His lips calling my name.
“My heart forgave you the moment you left those awful store-bought cookies on my front porch,” he growls, grinning. “It was my head that needed time to catch up.”
I look into his eyes, and I see a future. A family. Everything I’ve been chasing in all the wrong places.
That house behind me? The people who gave it to me to save on tax?
They’re not my family. Not really. Family is who you choose. It’s the people who will be in your corner. The people who will jump on a plane with nothing more than their wallet and their phone, hoping you’ll be waiting on the other side.
Family is Sawyer, and Lucy…
…and Benji.
“You never needed to ask for my forgiveness, Benji. You could push me away for the rest of my life, and I’d still be madly in love with you.”
Benji lets out a low groan, closing his eyes for just a moment. When he opens them again, I see the depth of his pain—and his love.
This hardened, battle-weary man, who’s been left behind by everyone who should have stayed. This man who opened his heart to me, even though he wasn’t supposed to. This man who flew across the country to beg for my forgiveness.
He’s the one. He’s always been the one. The only. The everything.
As his fingers curl into the nape of my neck, and his other arm sweeps across my lower back,
