bChapter /bb95/b: La bPOV /b

    :

    The car ride to Tessa’s is quiet but no less meaningful.

    73

    We move through the city in sporadic pools of amber streetlight, the glow catching on the windshield, to then slip away behind us. His right hand rests on the console between us, and I don’t think twice before reaching for him with my left hand. My fingers slot between his, and it feels…right.

    I nce at him and watch the streetlights flicker across his jaw, getting lost in his profile, a picture of calm and understated manliness. I want to say something, anything, but the words take a second toe out.

    “It’s weird,” I murmur, returning my gaze to the view beyond the windscreen.

    “What is?” he asks, his eyes still focused on the road.

    “Going back to Tessa’s. Knowing it’s only just for tonight,” I answer as a mncholy

    smile drifts over my face.

    He doesn’t hesitate before saying, “Weird doesn’t mean wrong.”

    I breathe through my nose, then exhale slowly, before replying assuredly, “It doesn’t feel

    wrong.”

    The quiet after that stretches, but it isn’t empty. It’s full of meaning and things we no longer need to say aloud. I don’t feel like I have to fill in the nks for once. He just lets

    me be like he always has.

    At the next red light, he nces over, and his gaze lingers this time as he asks, “You sure you’re not second–guessing thisb?/bb” /b

    I shake my head before he even finishes the sentence, replying with no hesitation whatsoever, “Not even a little.”

    His mouth lifts at the corner, but his voice stays even as he says, “Good. Because I was already nning to steal you back if you did.”

    8:17 Sun, Sep 7

    Chapter 95: La POV

    A softugh escapes me, making my chest ache with something bright and warm, and I reply yfully, “You say that like you’re not already halfway to doing it anyway.”

    bi73 /i/b

    He shrugs, his eyes back on the road, but his demeanor screams confidence when he asks rhetorically, “Who says I’m only halfway?”

    His reply is ridiculous, but somehow it’s the most reassuring thing he could’ve said in

    that moment.

    When we pull up outside Tessa’s, the quiet between us seeps into our surroundings, with

    the porch light that’s off, and the noiseless street. It’s the kind of night that feels like a

    pause between two versions of my life.

    I don’t open the door right away, and he doesn’t urge me to, either, as his thumb brushes mine in a rhythmic motion.

    “I was proud of you tonight,” he says, his voice lower and gentler. “For choosing this, for choosing ius/i.”

    I turn toward him fully, my knees angled in his direction, my left leg folded under me, and my fingers tightening around his. “You guys make it easy to say yes,” I say quietly,

    but I mean every word.

    He meets my gaze without flinching and says matter–of–factly, “That’s kind of the point,

    Cupcake.”

    Then, without warning and fanfare, he leans in. His lips find mine like they’ve done it a thousand times before, without hesitation or rush. It’s just a deep, deliberate kiss that sinks straight to the center of me. It’s softer than the one on the rooftop, but somehow it’s heavier in meaning.

    My right hand curls in the front of his hoodie, holding him there, not because I’m afraid he’ll leave, but because I want this kiss, and this moment, tost as long as possible.

    When he eventually pulls back, he rests our foreheads together, so ourbored breaths are shared in the small space between us.

    8:17 Sun, Sep 7

    Chapter 95: La POV

    :

    “Tomorrow,” he says, his voice barely more than a murmur, “is going to feel different.”

    I close my eyes and ask curiously, “Different how?”

    His left hand lifts to the side of my face, and his thumb brushes my cheek, slowly and assuredly.

    “Like the beginning of something you’ll never have to run from again,” he answers me, his breath skating over my slightly parted lips.

    b73 /b

    At that, iI /ikiss ihim /ithis time. It’s soft and only for a moment, but it doesn’t mean any less than any of our previous shared kisses.

    Then I silently step out of the car, and the night air is cool against my skin while the sidewalk is quiet beneath my feet.

    I don’t look back right away. But as I step inside the front door and look his way…he’s still there. He’s still watching and waiting, ensuring I’m safely inside before he pulls away from the curb.

    I smile to myself as I close and lock the front door behind me. Because tomorrow, I won’t be walking away from them anymore.

    The house is dark when I let myself in, with no creaking floorboards, no whispered voices, and no Mason protesting his bedtime. There’s just a calm stillness that permeates

    the air.

    I pad down the hallway, my hoodie sleeves pulled over my hands, and AJ’s kiss still humming under my skin.

    My room–or should I say Tessa’s guest room–looks the same as it did when I moved inst week. It’s too neat and too borrowed.

    I pause in the doorway for a second as I take it all in, then step inside and close the door

    behind me.

    8:17 Sunb, /bSep 7

    …

    b73 /b

    Chapter 95: La POV

    The backpack I had brought is slouching in the corner, still half–unpacked, and still giving the illusion that I’m just passing through.

    I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands resting on theforter beside my legs, and let the quiet stretch out before me. There’s no panic tonight, and no weight on my chest.

    There’s just this buzz in my bones…the kind that foreshadows new and exciting

    experiences.

    Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up and pack what little I have. Tomorrow, I’ll walk into a house that won’t feel temporary. Tomorrow…I’ll stop hovering on the edge of moments

    and adventures.

    A new family awaits me. A home with four boys who aren’t boys anymore. And who love me in ways I’m still learning to ept and believe.

    Iy back on the bed and stare at the ceiling with my hands intertwined over my

    stomach. And I smile.

    Not because my life’s perfect, and not because it will suddenly be easy.

    But because, for the first time in a long time, tomorrow doesn’t scare me.

    Chapter Comments

    Write Comments

    16

    SHARE