Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
SOPHIE
T here’s a strange sound coming from afar. Or is it my ears ringing?
All I know is that I’m completely stunned. A thousand words—and at the same time, none at all—race to make their way out of my throat simultaneously, resulting instead in a strangled sound.
Below me, Will is on his knees, grasping my legs, literally begging for me. But I’m still processing the barrage of information he just threw at me.
How he’s loved me for this long. How he stood by for an entire decade as he had to watch his best friend kiss me, grope me, and I’m sure, on a few occasions, even hear me whimper his name during the nights he stayed over.
And how he’s willing to part ways with my kids, whom I know he has come to love, too, to prove to me that I’m enough.
“Will,” I breathe out, my legs trembling. I think he’s the only thing holding me steady. “I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not.” He shakes his head. “You don’t have to ask me to do anything, Sophie. Because I’ll do anything for you regardless. I’m yours. I love you with all that I am. And I’m entrusting myself to you, at your mercy.”
Something in me breaks; my knees buckle and I stumble, only for him to be right there to catch me. I’m immediately wrapped in the heat of his arms, and whatever fear is left in my body dissipates into vapour. My arms scramble to grab onto whatever part of him I can, and before I can think it through and put up my walls, I press my mouth onto his.
A gasp escapes him, delicious and sweet against my lips. I tangle my fingers into his hair and let the taste of him wash over me, losing myself in the waves of relief and joy and love. But before I completely drown in him, I pull away, gasping for air.
“You would give them up to make me feel safe?” I’m on the verge of tears, still gripping his hair and his shoulders for dear life.
“Anything, Sophie.” The resolve in his voice and in his eyes tells me everything I need to know.
I trust this man with my life. With my love.
“But that’s not what I want!” I bite my lip and try to stop the tears from welling in my eyes, but it doesn’t work. I’m about to fall apart in his arms. “Will, you belong here, in my home. I love you so much that it terrifies me, but Gwen and Heather, they love you, too. And I love all of us together. Maybe I’m an idiot for not seeing it sooner, but you make our lives so much better just by existing, Will. I’m sorry I didn’t trust?—”
“Don’t.” He places a finger on my lips. “Don’t apologize for protecting yourself and those kids. I love you as you are. Don’t you dare apologize for any of it.” His touch turns into a stroke, and I lean my head into his hand, wanting nothing more than to be consumed by him.
“I love you,” I whisper again, letting the tears fall down my cheeks. We kiss again, and I’m enveloped in a warm cocoon of something I haven’t felt in a long time. Not just care, not just affection, not even just love. But something much bigger than that …
Safety.