“It is different,” I whispered in agreement. “You know, I always thought relationships seemed like a lot of work, but I feel like with us it’s effortless.”
“Effortless?” He snorted, eyeing me. “It was hardly effortless.”
I laughed. “Not in the beginning, and it certainly wasn’t easy these past two weeks, but before that…things were pretty dang perfect.”
Jude smiled widely. “What we have, it’s true love, baby. You can’t fight destiny.”
I opened my mouth to speak but he reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the water.
I squealed in fright, expecting to get soaked, but surprisingly the water didn’t even reach my knees.
Jude tightened his hold on me and I knew he was going to try to pull me into deeper water. “Jude!” I screamed, trudging through the water to get away from him. His hold slackened and I managed to get a few feet away.
I squealed, jumping up when he splashed me with water. I screamed his name again and splashed him back.
I tore my damp shirt off, throwing it as far as I could so it landed in the grass, before it ended up drenched.
Jude used that to his advantage and maneuvered in front of me.
He walked up real slow, smiling innocently. “Sorry, Tate, I couldn’t resist. I’ll stop. Forgive me?”
I opened my mouth to tell him to kiss my ass when he reached down and splashed more water at my face.
“Juuuude!” I shrieked yet again.
I cupped water in my hands and dropped it on his head in retaliation.
All the while, we both laughed.
Laughter had been missing from both our lives for too many days.
He swiped a long arc of water at me, drenching my legs and shorts. My hands flew up to cover my face. The water wasn’t cold, but it definitely wasn’t warm either.
Once I recovered from his onslaught, I splashed him back, and a full on water war ensued. Both of us ended up drenched, but I was too happy to care.
Jude grabbed me around my waist, spinning me around. Both of us grinned like fools.
I’d missed him more than I thought it was possible to miss another person. I wasn’t lying when I told him he was stuck with me. There was no way I was ever leaving him again. This man was mine, forever.
“I love you,” he murmured in my ear, smoothing my hair out of my eyes.
“I love you too,” I clasped arms around his neck, my legs wrapping around his waist as he held me up. I stared down at him, the sun shining on our faces. My damp hair clung to my chest, the ends dripping water onto his shoulders. Now that I had said the words, I realized they weren’t that scary, and I just wanted to keep saying them over and over again, because they filled me with such joy. I lowered my head, a smile on my face. My lips grazed his ear and I murmured, “I love you, Jude Brooks. I love you with all my heart.”
He kissed me slowly, deeply, savoring every touch of our lips.
He set me down and then crouched for me to climb onto him piggyback style. He lifted me up and tilted his head back to look at me. His eyes were serious as he stared me down. “You’re the only girl for me, never forget that, Tate.”
“Never,” I agreed, burrowing my head against his neck with a smile on my face as he carried me out of the water.
I hated that I hadn’t believed him when he told me about Brooke. I hated that I pushed him away and ran from my own feelings. I hated that I fought my heart so hard.
But all my fighting was futile; because love is one battle you can never overcome. Love always wins.
Jude put me down when we reached the grass. He pulled a beanie out of his back pocket and fixed it on, his damp hair sticking up in the front.
Growing serious, he leaned forward and his nose grazed mine. “Marry me, Tate.”
“What?” I gasped with wide eyes.