“I know what I want. And I know it took me a fuck of a long time to figure it out. But it’s you and all the rest of that dream of yours.”
She shook her head, her eyes still staring down the alley, but he saw the emotion in them.
“Crystal, look at me. Please.” She took her sweet time, but finally her eyes came to his. “I know what kind of life I lead. And I know that has never even been our biggest problem. I know the biggest obstacle has always been me. Pulling back. Guarding my heart. Pushing you away. I know I don’t make it easy for you. I know I’m hard to love. I know all that, Crystal, all of it, and yet I’m still standing here asking you for another shot.
“I know you deserve better. I know that. Hell, I’ve probably crossed every line you’ve ever drawn in the sand, more than once. Hell, a dozen times. And yet by some fucking miracle of God you still do love me.”
“Do I?”
Wolf swallowed. Well, hell, he hadn’t expected her to make this easy, had he? “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t believe in your love. I know you, Crystal. When you love, you love deep and strong, and I’m hoping forever. So here I am, standing here asking you to give me one more shot. One last shot, Crystal. I swear to God, I won’t let you down again.”
“I’m supposed to just believe that? What’s different this time?”
“I am,” he didn’t hesitate in answering.
“You are? How?”
“Because I finally pulled my head out of my ass. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Go on.”
Shit, she really wasn’t going to let him off easy. Hell, she’d have him down on his knees groveling in another minute. Fuck that. He still had some pride. In two steps he had her upper arms in his hands as he stood over her.
“I love you, Crystal. I always have. Through all of it, that’s never waivered. And you’ve been the single stabilizing force in my life, the only true north on my fucked up compass. It’s why I always come back to you. You are home to me.”
She looked up at him with glassy eyes and whispered, “It’s not the coming home part that’s so hard. It’s the leaving part I can’t take anymore.”
“That’s done. I’m done running, Crystal. I’m done being so afraid of failing you that that was all I ever did. I was never afraid of committing to you. I was afraid of not living up to your expectations of me.”
“All I wanted was your love.”
“You have it, sweetheart. You have my heart. You are my heart.”
“But will it last? Will you change your mind in a month and want out?”
He pushed his unbuttoned shirt to the side and tore the bandage over, revealing her name scrawled across his ribs in scrolling cursive letters three-inches high.
“I’m betting on forever.”
Her eyes fell to the tattoo that Jameson had fi
nished earlier.
“You’re over my heart. Right where you’ve always been, Crystal. I love you. I always have.”
Her eyes locked with his. “Jameson put that there?”
Wolf nodded.
“He never tattoos names. Never.”
“He made an exception for this one.”
Her eyes dropped back down to the beautiful scrollwork.
“You see a side of me no one else does, a side no one else ever will, a side no one understands but you. There will never be anyone else for me. No matter how long I live. Crystal, you’re the love of my life, and you always will be.”
“Wolf.” Her voice was soft, trembling. “I’m afraid of being hurt again.”