Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Finn
We missed dinner completely but were able to catch the cake cutting. There was no way that I could sit through the entire night with Charlie looking so stunning. The moment she stepped out of the bathroom in that dark navy blue gown, it took every bit of restraint in my body not to rip the dress right off of her. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night in our hotel room with her naked and my head between her thighs. I am hoping we can skip out on the reception early and sneak upstairs for round two.
Both of us are standing near the back of the venue, watching the newlyweds’ first dance. I look down at Charlie as she watches the couple twirl around under the twinkling lights. There’s a faint smile playing at the corner of her lips. To anyone else, they wouldn’t think anything of it.
To me? I know she’s happy.
Charlie does a double-take when she catches me staring at her.
“For the love of god, could you stop looking at my boobs for like five minutes? People are going to start thinking you’re a creep,” she says in a jokingly irritated tone.
“One: I can’t help it. They’re looking right at me, and they’re incredible. Second: You’re right, I’ll reel it in.” I lock eyes with her, sneak one more glance at her spectacular breasts, and bite my lip.
She groans. “Ugh. Griffin! Down boy.” She playfully slaps my arm, tipping her head back as she laughs loudly.
Standing beside her, she looks utterly effervescent. There’s a lightness to her tonight. Her clear eyes, rosy cheeks, and beaming smile make my heart beat faster.
I love this woman.
I started falling head over heels for her the moment she threatened to break my kneecaps that first night I met her.
Meeting Charlie that night was like having the most incredible dream, where you can remember every detail in vivid color. The kind of dream that makes you want to fall back asleep as soon as you wake up just so that you can pick up where you left off. Except Charlie wasn’t a dream.
She was here.
She was real.
She was mine.
When I saw her for the first time, golf club in hand and ready for battle, my soul said, That’s the one. Go get her. Proceed with caution, but go get her.
I glance down at her again, admiring her beauty as I trace her features with my eyes.
Utterly breathtaking.
Once the newlyweds finish their dance, the DJ requests that all the couples in the room join the bride and groom on the dance floor.
I grab Charlie’s hand. “Come dance with me.”
Horror washes over her face. “I don’t dance. In fact, I don’t know how to dance.”
Pretending to nod in an agreement, I look at her. “Today’s your lucky day, then.” Her shoulders drop with relief, thinking she was able to escape this dance.
Oh how wrong she is.
“I do know how to dance. Now, follow me. I know I have long strides and you’re a slow walker. Keep up,” I joke.
Reluctantly, she follows me over to the crowded dance floor. I curl my arm around her waist, and my hand clutches hers as we begin to sway to the slow, melodic music. Unsure at first, she keeps looking down at our feet, worried she’ll step on my toes.
We stop momentarily. My thumb and forefinger grasp her chin, tilting her head up so she’s forced to look at me. “Eyes up here, Charlie. I’ve got you,” I softly assure her. “Just follow my lead.”
With those encouraging words, I feel her begin to relax in my arms. A quiet moment passes between us where we both sway with the melody, enjoying the warm embrace of our entwined bodies.
I pull our joined hands close to my heart and place a soft kiss on her knuckles. She looks up at me with those big brown eyes, giving me the opportunity to give her a lingering kiss on the forehead. Charlie breathes a content sigh, resting her head on my chest as we continue to dance.
Every moment we’ve shared, from the first night we met until now on this dance floor, has been laced with a sense of familiarity. Like this is how it’s supposed to be—the two of us, side by side, standing together against anything and everything. As if our souls were connected in past lives, only to find each other again in this one. It’s a feeling that surfaces so infrequently that when you have it in your grasp, you must never let it go.
Because everything that has happened in our lives—from shitty relationships to soul-sucking jobs, catastrophic life failures, crushing grief, and everything in between—has led us to one another. Those moments, whether good or bad, have shaped us into who we are today. Five years ago, if Charlie and I met, we probably wouldn’t have been ready for each other.
But our paths crossed at the exact time when we needed each other the most.
A time when we were both figuring out our new lives.
A moment when we needed someone to stand by our side, as we navigated the unexpected twists and turns that come with a third life crisis.
We both had whole lives before meeting one another. Though now, it’s hard to imagine my life before I met her. My life that is now filled with crazy dog shenanigans, late-night walks, and hot chocolate dates with extra marshmallows.
A life that I wouldn’t want to spend with anyone else. Because the cute brunette who wears oversized overalls and her lazy dog companion are the ones that I want to spend my days and nights with.
The wave of these intense realizations and emotions starts to overwhelm me. Swiftly, I pull Charlie closer against me and hold her tighter, worried that she’ll drift away if I let her go. Burying my nose into her hair, I inhale her citrus scent.
I need to tell her how I feel. These feelings can’t stay bottled up inside of me. Is it poor taste to declare your love for someone at someone else’s wedding?
Probably.
Fuck it. I don’t care.
Charlie must have sensed that something is off because she looks up at me with a worried look in her eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “Can we get out of here? Go somewhere quiet?”
Her eyes widen with relief. “I thought you’d never ask.”
We were able to sneak onto the hotel’s rooftop, where the commotion of the loud wedding was quieted to a muffled roar. It’s almost midnight, which means it’s nearly the New Year. Below us, the party is getting louder and rowdier by the minute.
The deep, inky blue sky stretches above us, dotted with twinkling bright stars. A cold, crisp breeze swirls around us, prompting Charlie to pull her jacket tighter for warmth.
Out of habit, I take my scarf off and drape it around her neck. Looking up at me, she smiles with her cold, pinked-tipped nose and rosy cheeks. We both turn, gazing out into the dense forest and towering mountains before us, which are coated in a blanket of darkness. A few fireworks begin to appear in the distance, signaling that the New Year is nearly upon us.
Quiet hangs between us as we stand next to one another, the sides of our bodies pressed close together.
Ten.
In the distance, I hear the crowd below us begin the countdown.
Nine.
Charlie begins talking.
Eight.
Her eyes sparkle when she describes the new rare plants she purchased from out of state.
Seven.
The corners of her eye crinkle with happiness as she reminisces about the way Marnie yelled at a customer yesterday for accidentally stepping on Vera’s tail.
Six.
Her cheeks are touched with pink as she mentions a new book she picked up at the store with a questionable storyline.
Five.
As the gentle breeze tousles her dark hair around her face, I think to myself: I could listen to this incredible woman talk for hours.
Four.
She smells like oranges, and all I can think about is telling her that I love her.
Three
I want to start off this New Year right, and those need to be the very first words that she hears.
Two.
She deserves it. She deserves everything and more.
One.
I can’t imagine my life without Charlie, because she makes everything more beautiful in my world.
The crowd below screams “ Happy New Year ,” and fireworks light up the sky. I look over at the woman who has forever changed my life.
“I love you,” I tell her, sounding completely out of breath.
My nervous heart beats hard and fast in my chest. As the night wore on, my mind swirled with so many emotions and thoughts. She needs to know that I deeply and profoundly love all her beauties and flaws equally. Nothing she can say or do will change how I feel about her.
She stops mid-sentence—eyes wide, pink lips parted, and chest heaving. For a brief moment, I panic, afraid I misinterpreted our relationship over these last few months.
Her eyes go glassy, and she gives me an adoring smile that quenches all of my fears.
“I love you too, Finn.”
With those five words, I grab her face and kiss her. Just like our first kiss, she grabs the lapels of my coat and pulls me closer to her.
Over the last few months, we have found a home in each other’s hearts. It doesn’t matter where we go, so long as we go together.
With a New Year and a new life together on the horizon, Charlie and I stand with our warm hands intertwined, looking at one another with the utmost love and appreciation.
With a shared smile, we make a silent promise to turn over a new leaf.
Together.