“So why are you letting her get away? Does the military really mean so much to you that you can’t find something else to define yourself by?”
“I had a plan—”
“Screw your plan. This is once in a lifetime. Is this what you want your life to look like?” Tom asked.
Holden hadn’t known what to say to that, but now, as he sat across from his parents, he thought he might have some idea.
“You surprised us, dear,” his mother said. “We were sure you’d break our hearts and make the wrong choice.”
“But we’re proud of you.”
“You should be proud of me regardless,” Holden said. “And I can’t do this.” He slid back from the table and made for the atrium of the hotel. From there, he could book a taxi and maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to convince Avery to take him back.
He didn’t care what he had to say or do. He didn’t care if he never went back to the Marines and never had children. He just wanted to spend the rest of his days with her.
He made his way to the front desk, then stopped short.
Standing there, trying to bribe the concierge, was a tall woman with familiar straight blond hair. He’d know her anywhere. Rushing across the hotel, he stretched out his hand then turned her around to face him.
“Listen—” she argued, and then her breath caught. “Holden.”
“Yeah.”
It was amazing how two people could stand alone in the same room and still find a way not to look at each other. She gazed toward the closet, he stared at the ground, and whenever their eyes accidentally met, they would move in opposite directions again.
Oh, the comfortable silences.
“Listen.” Avery cleared her throat. “I’m, um, I’ve been…kind of an asshole.”
“We should have talked about my career. I should have been clearer about what I wanted.”
“You knew it would scare me. Like everything else.”
“But you deserved to know—”
“I understand. You just wanted to keep me—”
Their words clashed, each one fighting for supremacy, dying to make the first, the best apology.
Until Holden said, “I love you.”
The words hung suspended between them.
She’d always heard them in the way he looked at her, the way he treated her, in every word he said. But hearing them for real, for what it was…
More incredible than she’d ever have believed.
After a moment, he went on, “I shouldn’t have done what I did. I pushed you too far, and it wasn’t fair. I know that now. I won’t ask you to be with me if that’s not what you want. We can go back to the way it was. I don’t care. As long as I get to be near you, I don’t care. Avery, I—”
“I love you, too.”
…
Once they got back to her apartment, they immediately went to the bedroom. But before they let nature take its course, she insisted on making absolutely sure they were on the same page.
They sat on the bed, a large present on the bedspread between them.
“Well, it’s not like it’s a shock to anybody. I love you. No big deal.” She’d said it again. Louder this time, but he still wanted to hear her say it. Who cared how many times? A million. Over and over until his ears bled.