Chapter 45
CHAPTER
FORTY-FIVE
EMMETT
All my secrets are in Aspen’s hands. She holds things I’ve never said aloud to anyone before.
The lines in her brows smooth, and she blows out a breath.
“Nothing you told me changes the way I feel about you,” she says. “You’re perfectly flawed. Your past built someone I’m really glad to know—someone I want in my life.”
The sincerity in her voice hits harder than any accusation could’ve.
Because she means it.
She knows the worst thing about me and she’s still here, touching me like I’m worth holding onto.
It cracks my chest open so violently it almost hurts.
“Do you hear me, Emmett?”
I do, and for the first time in years, I want something badly enough to be terrified of losing it. And I can finally put a name to it.
It’s love.
Aspen holds me tighter, refusing to let me look away. My truth is an ugly thing, but she’s facing it head-on and making me do the same.
This stunning, smart, kind woman is angry on my behalf. Frustrated that she can look at me knowing all of that and still see someone worth loving while I can’t.
My chest feels too small to contain everything hitting me at once. Relief, disbelief, and adrenaline swirl inside me—a cyclone of emotions.
She’s still too good for me—always will be—there’s no changing that. My past can’t be erased, but with her by my side, I can face it.
“I hear you,” I say.
When I pull back from Aspen’s hold, the sky is dancing in emerald and amethyst. Rory would’ve loved this.
The thought should hurt more than it does.
Maybe because, for the first time in a long time, grief isn’t the only thing I’m carrying.
I don’t let myself think about everything that could take this away. I focus on Aspen. The feel of her hands on me. The certainty in her eyes.
Tonight, that’s more than enough.
“Do you?” Her eyes bore into me like she’s trying to pull apart every thought in my head, searching for the doubt, the but, the condition. She’s not going to find it.
I look at the stars and then back at her.
“Tell me again how much you like me.”
“Oh, there’s my funny guy.”
“It wasn’t a joke. It’s pathetic how badly I need to hear it.”