Chapter 35 Forever, Last Night
Forever, Last Night
The night before she was supposed to leave, Savannah couldn’t stop shaking.
It wasn’t from the cold.
It wasn’t from fear.
It was from him.
From the way Chase was looking at her, from the way his hands traced over her skin like he was afraid to forget what she felt like. Like he was afraid to forget her.
The air in the room was thick, heavy, charged with something neither of them could ignore.
A storm waiting to break.
A levee ready to crumble.
Chase sat on the edge of the bed, his bare chest illuminated by the soft golden glow of the bedside lamp. Shadows flickered over the sharp edges of his jaw, the muscles in his shoulders, the way his chest rose and fell in uneven breaths.
His hair was slightly tousled, wild from where he had run his fingers through it too many times—like he was trying to grasp something just out of reach.
Like he was trying to hold onto something already slipping through his fingers.
Savannah stood in front of him, wearing nothing but his t-shirt, the hem brushing against her thighs.
Her hands were trembling.
Her heart was pounding.
She had spent the last two weeks convincing herself this wasn’t real.
That it was temporary.
That when she left Wrightsville Beach, she could simply pack this up, tuck it away in some safe, quiet place inside her, and move on.
But standing there, staring at the man who had somehow become everything, she knew she had been lying to herself.
This was real.
He was real.
And tomorrow?
Tomorrow, she was leaving.
Her chest ached, her throat tightened, but not from nerves. Not from fear. From the devastating realization that this wasn’t just a summer fling.
This was love.
The kind of love that wrecks you in the best way.
The kind of love that makes you believe in things you swore you never would.
The kind of love that echoes when they aren’t around.
The kind of love that stays.
She swallowed hard, stepping between his knees. Chase’s hands found her hips instantly, his touch firm, grounding, like he needed to hold onto her just as much as she needed to be held.
His breath was warm against her skin, his lips just inches from hers, but he didn’t close the distance.
Neither of them did.
They just stayed there, suspended in the kind of silence that could break a person.
Her fingers trembled as she lifted them to his face, tracing the strong lines of his jaw, the roughness of his stubble, the tension locked in his muscles.
She wanted to memorize him.
Every feature. Every curve. Every breath. Because soon, she would have to live with only the memory of this.
“Savannah—”
His voice was low, hoarse, like he was on the verge of breaking.
She swallowed, her fingers tightening on his skin.
"I don’t want to go," she whispered, the words slipping out before she could stop them. Bare. Vulnerable. True.
Chase’s grip on her hips tightened just slightly, like he wanted to pull her closer but knew he couldn’t hold her here forever. His eyes burned into hers, dark and full of something undeniable, inescapable.
"Then don’t,” he said, so simply, so easily.
Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Like it was that easy.
A single tear slid down her cheek, and Chase caught it with his thumb, brushing it away before cupping her face.
He kissed her then.
Soft. Slow. Deep.
Like he was trying to tell her everything he couldn’t say.
Like he was begging her to hear him, to feel him, to understand that this was real.
Savannah let out a soft, shaky breath, her fingers sliding into his hair, holding onto him like she could keep this moment frozen in time.
Because tomorrow,
Tomorrow would come.
It always did.
And this?
This was the last night.
Her last chance to let herself feel it all.
Her last chance to tell him the truth.
Her last chance to stop pretending she wasn’t in love with him.
Her breath shook against his lips.
“Chase…”
Her heart raced as she finally said the words.
"I love you."
Chase froze.
His hands went still.
His body tensed, his breath catching, his eyes darkening with something she couldn’t name.
She didn’t blink.
Didn’t breathe.
She just waited.
Waited for him to say something.
Waited for him to understand what she had just given him.
And when he finally moved, when he finally exhaled, it came out ragged, wrecked, like she had just shattered something inside him.
"Say it again," he murmured, his fingers sliding into her hair, holding her to him like he needed to hear it again.
Her chest tightened.
Her lips brushed his.
"I love you."
Chase let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a prayer, his lips crashing into hers.
And this time?
It was different.
Because this wasn’t just desperate.
It wasn’t rushed.
It wasn’t temporary.
This was love.
Raw. Unstoppable. Unbreakable.
His hands slid up her back, his fingers gripping at the fabric of his shirt on her body, pulling it over her head, leaving her bare beneath him.
Savannah let out a soft gasp as his lips traveled down her neck, over her collarbone, along every inch of skin like he was worshipping her.
His hands traced slow, reverent paths over her body, learning, memorizing, claiming.
She had never felt so seen, so wanted, so cherished.
This wasn’t just touch.
This was love.
This was a promise.
Chase hovered over her, his forehead pressed to hers, his breath uneven, his body shaking with restraint.
His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips, his eyes so full of something it stole the air from her lungs.
"I love you too, Savannah," he whispered.
Her heart stopped.
Then it soared.
And when he finally moved inside her, when their bodies joined in a slow, aching rhythm, it was different than it had ever been before.
This wasn’t just passion.
This wasn’t just desire.
This was two souls finding each other in the dark.
His name fell from her lips in a breathless whisper.
His hands gripped her like she was the only thing anchoring him to the world.
They moved together, slow and deep, like they had all the time in the world.
Like tomorrow wasn’t waiting.
Like this wasn’t the end.
Chase pressed his forehead to hers, his lips barely touching hers as he whispered,
"You were never supposed to be temporary."
Savannah's chest tightened, a tear slipping down her cheek, but he caught it with his lips.
"Then don’t let me be."
His answer was a kiss.
A slow, deep, aching kiss that sealed the promise they were both too scared to say aloud.
And when they finally shattered together, when they came undone in the kind of way that couldn’t be undone, Savannah knew—
She wasn’t just leaving a place.
She was leaving her heart behind.
And it belonged to him.