Chapter 56
HOLLY
Something cracks. Not in his voice, in me.
I’ve waited years to tell him those words. Dreamed about it. Scolded myself about it in the shower. Every time, I’d shut it down.
And now, this isn’t a fantasy.
Here he is. Saying it, meaning it.
And it’s terrifying.
This is Dexter. My best friend. My safest place. The man I trusted when I couldn’t trust anyone else.
Loving him means risking everything. If we try and fail, I’ll break. And if I lose him completely… I don’t know what would be left of me.
But even with all that…
It would be worse to never be his at all.
So I choose the thing I never thought I’d have the nerve to do: I call off the watchdog. Tell my inner Rottweiler she can clock out. I even scratch her ears before I let her run.
I open the door I’ve kept bolted shut for years. I stop trying to predict the fallout, stop trying to edit the past.
I see everything we’ve ever been… and everything we can still be. I let myself believe it.
And I let him in.
And honestly… it’s about time. Shelby was right: Every chaotic girl needs her chill guy.
If we go down, we go down kissing.
Dexter Thorne. Love of my life. My favorite control freak.
Titanic quote-thief. Occasional pain in my butt.
Lethal dimples. Patience of a monk. Waited through every disaster, every meltdown, every “nothing but friends” phase.
Never once ran for the hills. Soon-to-be father of our sleep-deprived future. And somehow, still up for the job.