CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE | Penn #2
“London.” I try again, a little louder this time.
Again, no response.
“London, I know you’re upset, but aren’t we a little old for the silent treatment?”
She says nothing.
Panic spikes in my chest.
“London!” This time, it’s loud enough to echo through the air around me.
“Go away!”
I blow out a relieved breath when I hear her call back, though her voice seems distant.
“Where are you?”
“Leave me alone.” Is her only reply.
I follow the sound that seems to lead directly into the cove.
“Are you in the water?”
“So what if I am?”
“It’s still dark,” I call into the darkness, the only sound the gentle lap of the water against the rocks that lead into the cove.
“And?”
“And it’s dangerous.”
“Didn’t realize age made you such a baby.”
“I’ll show you baby,” I mutter under my breath as I strip down to my boxers before quietly slipping into the water.
Swimming into the cove, I smile to myself when I see London floating in the water, illuminated by an intense glow caused by a specific type of plankton that emit a blue-green light.
Her brown hair is splayed out on top of the water, seeming to absorb a glow of its own.
Suddenly, I’m fifteen all over again. Sneaking down to the cove after midnight to meet London. Hours we’d spend in this water. Talking, laughing, kissing, and touching. I haven’t been here in years, but it feels like yesterday as I tread the water, moving closer to London’s floating form.
Whether she doesn’t hear my approach or simply doesn’t care, she continues to float on her back on top of the water like I’m not here.
I take a long moment to watch her. To watch the water lap over her ivory skin.
The way her face is turned up just enough to keep the seawater from getting in her face.
She’s still dressed in the silky pajama bottoms and tank that she showed up at my house in, only now they’re soaking wet and basically see-through.
I have to resist the urge to focus on that particular detail.
“You’re beautiful,” I finally say, voice soft.
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” She doesn’t react to my nearness, which tells me she knew the second I entered this cove and has simply been waiting.
“Not flattery. Just truth. You are beautiful.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“How did you know I was home?” I ask, knowing it’s unlikely she showed up in the middle of the night on a whim.
“Alec,” she states simply.
“About what you saw...”
“Please don’t disrespect me by lying to me. I know what I saw.”
“What you saw was me kicking Cat out of my house after I found her waiting for me in my bed... Naked.”
This gets her attention and she moves from floating on her back to facing me, her legs treading water to keep her from sinking.
“That seems extreme, even for Cat.”
“I’m starting to realize there’s very little she won’t do to get what she wants.”
“I could have told you that.” She snorts.
“I swear I never touched her.”
“I want to believe you.” Her expression softens.
“Then do it, because I’m telling you the truth. I don’t want Cat. I’ve never wanted Cat. I only want you.” I move closer, doing a silent victory fist pump in my head when she doesn’t move back in response.
“Even after everything?”
“Always.” I inch even closer, less than two feet between us now. “I got your message on the boat. That’s why I came home.”
“You did?” She seems surprised by this. “You never answered.”
“I was trying to think of the right words to say. When I finally responded, you were gone.”
“Lou caught me in the bridge.”
“Trust me, I heard about it.” I smile, inching closer still. “Did you mean what you said? That you want to be with me even if I’m having a baby with Cat?”
“Yes.” Her breath hitches when I close the remaining distance between us, sliding my hand across her back as I pull her flush against me.
“You’d do that? Watch me raise a child with another woman?”
“I think you’ll find there’s very little I wouldn’t be willing to endure to be with you.” Her words are barely above a whisper.
“But you shouldn’t have to endure anything.” I push a wet strand of hair away from her face. “But the fact that you’re willing to means more to me than you will ever know. But I think perhaps I should let you in on a little secret.”
“What’s that?” Her voice trembles ever so slightly.
“I’m not the father.”
An array of emotion crosses her face in a matter of seconds. Surprise. Disbelief. Confusion. And then finally, relief.
“But I thought... Josie made it seem like... Are you sure?”
“Positive. I got the results directly from the doctor’s mouth. The baby isn’t mine.”
“Then whose baby is it?”
“Jeffery Thomas.”
“Jeff? No.” She shakes her head like she can’t believe it. “I thought he and Maggie were still together.”
“Apparently not. Or if they are, he has some serious explaining to do.”
“Did she know? Did she know he was the father and purposely tried to pin it on you?”
“I can’t say for sure, but that’s what I expect.”
“Wow.” She shakes her head, like she’s having a hard time wrapping her head around all of this.
“Yeah. Wow,” I agree.
“I’m sorry she did that.”
“I’m sorry I slept with her to hurt you. Guess that’s what I get.”
“No one deserves to be tricked like that. I knew she was capable of a lot, but this was too far, even for her.”
“She’s not our problem anymore. I made it very clear that I never want to see her again.”
“Kind of a hard feat in a town this small.”
“Oh, I have no doubt we will see her around. But as far as I’m concerned, she’s vapor- invisible. After what she tried to pull...”
“You’re not the father,” she repeats like she’s just now processed what I’m telling her.
“No.” I shake my head.
“So what does that mean for us? I meant what I said at your house. I don’t feel like I know you anymore.”
“Only you do. I’m not saying I haven’t changed over the last seven years.
Of course I have, and so have you. But at my core, I’m still the same person I’ve always been.
And I still love you today the way I loved you back then—that has not changed.
I want you in my life, London. I want you with me always. ”
“What if I hurt you again?”
“What if I hurt you? We can’t live our lives with what-ifs.” I rest my forehead against hers. “Do you love me?”
“More than anything,” she admits without hesitation.
“Do you want to be with me?”
“More than anything.” Again, not a second of hesitation.
“Then the rest will work itself out,” I reassure her.
“Nothing has felt right since the day you left and it took me a very long time to reconcile with why that is.” I pause for a long moment.
“Because you are a part of me, LV. You always have been. And when you left, you took that part with you. I haven’t been whole since.
At least, not until you walked back into my life two months ago.
That’s why I was so angry. Because I knew, after everything, there would only ever be you, and that thought terrified me because how do you stake your very happiness on someone who made it clear you weren’t enough? ”
“You were always enough. Always,” she repeats, taking my face in her hands. “And I’ll spend the rest of forever proving that to you.”
“The rest of forever?” I smile.
“If you’ll have me.” She nods softly.
“Have you? LV, you’re already mine. Not a single day has passed that you weren’t mine. I’m just glad that you now know it too.”
“So now what do we do?”
“Well, for starters...” I lean in and press my mouth to hers.