Chapter 30
We stay on the bus, tangled in each other, making love like we’ve got time to rewrite the months we lost. Slow, unhurried, sometimes laughing, always touching.
Hours pass in the hush of low lamplight and whispered promises.
He showers me with tenderness and then adds spicy roughness when I beg for it.
After, Sam wraps his arms around me, one hand trailing lazily through my hair, the other tracing light circles on my lower back like he can’t bear to stop touching me.
“Phern wants to apologize to you,” he murmurs. “When you’re ready.”
“She doesn’t have to, Sam. I understand. She was just trying to protect you.”
His jaw clenches against my temple. “She still shouldn’t have done what she did.”
We fall quiet for a moment.
“She showed me the letters right before the show,” he says finally. “If I hadn’t seen you in the crowd, I was going to find you the second I walked off that stage. ”
I tilt my head and smile against his chest. “I think I prefer this to a phone call.”
He laughs softly, pressing a kiss to my hair. “Me too, darlin’.” His sigh is long, heavy with things unsaid. “Phern meant well, but it came from a place of hurt. Her own hurt.”
“What do you mean?”
“We lost our mom when she was just a baby. And when Dad died, she didn’t know how to handle it. Got close with a guy in college. Really believed he was the one. Turned out he only wanted access to me. Publicity. A few backstage passes.” His voice hardens. “Broke her heart when she found out.”
I draw lazy circles on his chest. “Then I get it. Why she panicked when Kurt showed up.”
His grip tightens like a reflex. “That the prick who used to date you?”
I nod, rolling my eyes. “Yeah. And both he and my boss got fired after I reported what they did. HR took it seriously.”
Sam hums. “Good.”
We drift for a moment, the silence sweet and full.
“What else did I miss?” he asks.
I lift my head, watching his face. “Started a new job. Tried to survive without you.” I pause, my voice soft. “And… found out I’m pregnant.”
His entire body goes still. Then, slowly, he pushes up onto his elbow, staring down at me.
“Charlie?”
I sit up too, reaching for his hand and guiding it to rest gently over my belly. “Looks like the baby making barn worked its magic.”
For a beat, he just stares. Then a startled laugh breaks out of him. He cups my stomach like it’s the most sacred thing he’s ever touched, his thumb brushing over the soft skin there.
“You’re serious?” he whispers, his voice wrecked.
I nod, tears filling my eyes. “You’re going to be a dad, Sam.”
His laugh breaks open into something wild and beautiful. Tears streak down his cheeks as he pulls me into him, pressing kisses to my face like he’s afraid I’ll vanish again.
“Holy shit,” he breathes. “Holy shit. I love you, Charlie. I love you so damn much.”
“I love you too, Sam.”
He cups my face, hands trembling slightly as his thumbs brush over my cheeks.
“Marry me,” he whispers. “Marry me and never leave my side. Not again. Never.”
My heart stutters in my chest, and for one suspended beat, the world holds still.
“Yes,” I whisper, the word bursting from my lips like oxygen. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
A smile breaks across his face, like I just handed him the rest of his life. He pulls me into him, lifting me off the ground as we spin once, laughter tangled with tears.
“God, you’ve made me the happiest man alive.”
I press my forehead to his, breathless and beaming. “We’re going to make one hell of a team, cowboy.”
We hold each other like we’ve been underwater, like we’re finally surfacing after drowning, like the air between us is brand new and too precious to waste. And this time, we’re not letting go.
The next morning, we step off the bus into the soft haze of an L.A. sunrise. The city hums to life around us, but all I feel is Sam’s hand wrapped around mine. During the night, the bus moved, now parked in front of a sleek hotel just off Sunset.
Sam doesn’t let go of me for a second as we walk through the quiet lobby and into the elevator.
The suite he leads me to is on the top floor.
It’s luxurious but understated, with warm golden light pouring in through massive windows.
The door clicks shut behind us, and neither of us says a word.
Instead, Sam steps behind me, pressing a soft kiss to the curve of my neck.
“Shower?” he murmurs.
I nod.
We move together, stripping away last night’s clothes like old armor. The bathroom is spacious, the glass-walled shower already fogging with steam. He steps in first, holding his hand out for me, and I follow, the warm spray hitting my skin in a soothing cascade.
His arms wrap around me from behind, his lips pressing to my shoulder as water drips down our bodies. There’s nothing hurried about this. Just skin on skin.
The hot water cascades over our bodies as Sam pulls me close, his hands smoothing over my back.
Steam swirls around us, cloaking us in our own little world as our mouths meet again.
His fingers tangle in my wet hair, tilting my head so he can deepen the kiss.
I melt into him, the water a soft percussion in the background.
Sam's lips trail from my mouth to my jaw, to the hollow beneath my ear. “I still can’t believe you’re here,” he murmurs, voice low. “That I get to touch you like this again.”
My breath hitches as I glide my hands over his chest, the slick warmth of his skin making every caress feel like silk. “You feel like home,” I whisper.
He cups my face, eyes searching mine with a look so intense it nearly undoes me. “I’ll never let you go again, Charlie. Never.”
“Good. Because I’m not going anywhere, cowboy.”
Our lips meet again, and the heat between us spikes, curling in the steam of the shower.
Sam spins me gently so I’m facing the wall, his hands steady and reverent.
He lifts one of my legs, anchoring me to him, and when he slides into me, we both moan like the breath we’ve been holding since we were torn apart has finally been released.
Slowly, deeply, he moves with me, in me.
Every touch a promise, every kiss a vow.
The water pours over our bodies like absolution, warm and endless.
We cling to each other, rocking in rhythm to something deeper than desire.
This isn’t just about lust. This is about claiming each other again, about healing in the only way we know how. With skin and heart and soul.
The shower becomes something sacred. A baptism of all the pain we’ve survived. Of everything we’ve reclaimed. By the time we step out, dripping and breathless, I know one thing with absolute certainty. We are whole again.
We dry off, dress, and step out of the suite. Sam laces his fingers through mine like he’s afraid to let go. And honestly, same. My heart is still pounding, not just from what we shared in the shower, but from the weight of everything that’s finally lifting.
Downstairs in the hotel café, Tish is already at a table, chatting animatedly with Liam, who looks surprisingly at ease in a button-up shirt and boots.
I’m guessing my best friend had some intel on where I went after the show.
Phern sits beside them, fidgeting with the edge of her coffee cup.
Her eyes snap up the second she sees us.
Sam gives my hand a squeeze before we cross the room together.
“There they are!” Tish stands and immediately pulls me into a hug. “Took y’all long enough.”
Liam whistles, eyeing us both. “Well, I’ll be damned. You two look like you finally got your happy ending.”
Sam smirks. “We’re working on it.”
Phern rises slowly. She looks nervous, and for good reason. Her gaze finds mine, and for a moment we just stare. There’s a storm of emotion behind her eyes. Guilt. Hope. Maybe even something like admiration.
“I was wrong,” she says quietly. “About you. About everything. I’m so sorry, Charlotte.”
Emotion claws up my throat, but I manage a smile. “Thank you for saying that.”
“I don’t expect you to forgive me right away. But I’d like to try to fix it. If you’ll let me.”
I nod, and when I reach for her hand, she lets me take it.
“We’ve got time,” I say. “And besides. We’re family now.”
Sam’s arm slides around my waist, warm and solid. “And you’re going to be an Aunt.”
Tish raises her glass. “To family. The messy, loud, stubborn kind we’d still choose every single time.”
We all lift our drinks.
And for the first time in what feels like forever, I know this is exactly where I’m meant to be.