Chapter 23
Adrienne
“I’m in love with you.”
The words shatter the silence. For a heartbeat, everything freezes. The ceiling fan hums softly. My pulse pounds in my ears. Scotty’s eyes, half-lidded from the afterglow, flick open.
He blinks once. Then frowns. “What?”
My smile wavers, nerves coiling tight. “I said I’m in love with you.”
He sits up so fast the mattress shifts under me. The warmth that filled the room moments ago disappears, replaced by a cold, heavy silence.
“Scotty?” I whisper.
He drags a hand through his hair, staring at the floor. “Don’t.”
The single word slices through me. I clutch the sheet tighter to my chest, throat tight. “Don’t what? Tell you how I feel?”
He exhales, still not looking at me. “You shouldn’t have said that.”
Something inside me cracks. “Why? Because it makes this too real? Because it’s easier if it’s just—”
“Adrienne.” His tone is low, warning. I stop talking. He finally turns his head, eyes darker than I’ve ever seen them. “You don’t get to drop that like it’s nothing.”
My heart stutters. “It’s not nothing.” I swallow hard, the lump in my throat making it hard to breathe. “I knew this would ruin everything.” He doesn’t deny it. The silence between us stretches, loud and unbearable, until I finally whisper, “Say something.”
But he doesn’t. He just sits there, muscles tense, staring at the floor like the words I said were a line he can’t cross. His head snaps up suddenly, eyes sharp and cutting through the quiet. “What kind of fucked-up game are you playing right now?”
My chest tightens. “What?”
He stands, pacing a few steps away, still naked, tension rolling off him. “You’re the one leaving, Adrienne. You tell me you love me before you even tell me about this big job in L.A.?”
The words hit so hard that it takes a second for them to register. “What?” I whisper again, smaller this time. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t do that. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Confusion knots through the panic. “Scotty, I—I don’t—”
He cuts me off with a bitter laugh. “You know, I actually thought this was different. That for once, I wasn’t just something you were trying out before you ran off to the next big thing.”
I stare at him, heartbeat thudding painfully in my chest. “That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?” He grabs his jeans off the floor and pulls them on, movements rough, angry. “You were gonna leave. And you thought saying you loved me would make it easier? So you didn’t have to feel guilty?”
My throat burns. “Scotty—no. That’s not—”
He laughs again, but it’s hollow this time. “Guess I should’ve seen it coming. I guess you were honest with me about not knowing what you wanted.”
My mouth falls open. “Who told you about L.A.?”
His head snaps toward me, eyes narrowing. “So it’s true?”
“What?” My pulse spikes, confusion and dread twisting together. “No.”
He grabs his jeans off the floor, yanking them on with rough, jerky movements. “Axel told me, at your parents' party,” he spits. “Said you’ve got some big job offer in L.A. and you’re taking it.”
I blink, stunned. “He—he told you that?”
I swear to god, he can never keep his damn mouth shut!
Scotty laughs, it’s a bitter sound that makes my stomach flip. “Guess he figured I should know the woman I’ve been sleeping with is planning her exit.”
“That’s not what happened.” I stumble out of bed, dragging the sheet around me, anger cutting through the shock. “I didn’t take the job! I told Axel offhand, on my way to see Celeste, that she offered it. That’s it. I can’t believe he went and told you.”
He’s pacing now, bare feet heavy on the wood floor, voice low and sharp. “You said it like it was nothing, Adrienne. Like some passing detail. I find out from your brother that you’re thinking about leaving town, not from you.”
My throat burns. “Because I hadn’t decided anything yet! I hadn’t even processed it! I promised her I would consider it, that’s all.”
He turns on me, voice breaking with frustration. “You think that makes it better? You drop I love you like a bomb right before you move across the goddamn country? What the hell was that supposed to mean?”
I stare at him, chest heaving. “Wait, so you thought I accepted the job and was just going to dip out on you? Without a word?”
He exhales hard, scrubbing a hand down his face, guilt flickering in his eyes but not softening his tone. “I didn’t know what to think, Adrienne. You—you’ve got a whole world waiting outside this town. I figured it was only a matter of time.”
My voice trembles. “You didn’t even consider that if I had taken it, I might’ve asked you to move with me? Or that we could try long distance?”
That stops him cold. His mouth parts, but nothing comes out. I shake my head, tears stinging. “You didn’t even give me the chance to explain. You just went straight to the worst version of me in your head.”
He looks away, jaw tight, regret flickering there, but pride keeping it locked down.
My voice cracks. “God, Scotty, you talk about not being good enough for me, but you’re the one who doesn’t believe in us.”
He swallows, shoulders rising and falling, then mutters, “I need some air,” and moves for the door. He’s halfway out the door when he stops. His hand grips the frame, knuckles white, shoulders heaving with every breath.
“So you’re not moving to L.A.?” His voice is clipped, flat, like he’s bracing for the worst even though I just said I wasn’t. He needs reassurance.
I shake my head hard, breath rushing out.
“No.” My voice cracks, raw from holding back tears.
“I already told Celeste no.” He turns slightly, just enough that I can see the sharp line of his jaw, the storm still written across it.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I whisper. “I don’t want any of it if it means losing this. ”
For a fleeting second, relief breaks across his expression. But then it’s gone, replaced by that familiar wall he hides behind. His voice is lower now, rough. “Are you just giving up your dream to keep me?”
I take a shaky step forward. “That’s not what this is.”
He finally turns, eyes meeting mine, and for the first time in my life, I see fear in them.
The kind of fear that only comes from caring too much.
“Because I can’t be the reason you throw away everything you’ve worked for,” he says, voice cracking just enough to wreck me. “You’d end up hating me for it.”
Tears slip down my cheeks, but I don’t look away. “Scotty…”
He shakes his head once, like he’s trying to stop himself from coming closer. “Tell me this isn’t just about me, Adrienne. Tell me you’re not staying because you feel sorry for the guy who can’t give you a life outside this town.”
I take another step until there’s barely a foot between us, my voice soft but sure. “No. I’m staying because I finally figured out what I want, and it’s you.”
His breath stutters, eyes flicking to my mouth, to my tears, back to my eyes again.
The fight finally drained from his face as he reached his hand up to wipe away the tears.
His thumb catches the tear just before it falls.
The rough pad of it grazes my cheek, gentle in a way that breaks me all over again.
I press forward, closing the last bit of distance between us until my chest brushes his.
My palms flatten over his heart, feeling it hammer beneath my hands.
“No,” I whisper, voice trembling but sure.
“I’m not giving anything up.” He exhales shakily, but I keep going, words spilling out now like they’ve been waiting years to be said.
“I don’t want L.A. I don’t want skyscrapers or some fancy office or a view that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t want to wake up in some apartment surrounded by people in a city who don’t even know me.”
My fingers curl in his T-shirt, gripping tight. “I want here. I want my family, my home, my job. I want Sunday dinners and bonfires and messy, beautiful fights with you. I realized I don’t need to go find myself somewhere else, Scotty. I’ve always been right here.”
He closes his eyes, breathing hard, like he’s fighting the weight of every word.
“I spent years thinking I had to keep running toward something to prove I was enough,” I whisper. “But all I was doing was running from you. From love.” Tears blur my vision, but I don’t look away. “I love you, Scotty. I’ve always loved you. I’m done pretending it’s anything less.”
For a long second, there’s only the sound of our breathing. My hands tremble against his chest, waiting for him to say something that proves he believes me. But he doesn’t speak. He just stares at me like I’ve stripped him bare.
Then his fingers slide up, slow and shaking, curling around the sides of my neck. The moment holds, fragile and infinite, his thumb brushing over my pulse. The look on his face wrecks me, like he’s tired of fighting. Then, all at once, he breaks.
Scotty grabs my face in his hands, his palms rough and trembling, and kisses me so hard it knocks the air from my lungs. It’s not gentle. It’s not careful. It’s everything he’s been holding back.
When he finally pulls away, his forehead drops to mine, breath ragged. “I love you,” he mutters, voice cracking. “God, Adrienne, I love you so damn much I don’t know what to do with it.”
My eyes burn, tears spilling before I can stop them. “Then why—”
“Because I didn’t think I deserved you,” he chokes out, cutting me off.
“You walk into a room and it’s like the whole damn world looks at you, and then there’s me—the guy who can barely string two words together when you smile.
” His voice breaks, raw and real. “I thought if I stayed quiet, if I didn’t want too much, maybe I could keep you close without ruining it. ”
I shake my head, tears streaming. “You never ruined anything.”
He exhales hard, the sound shaking through him.
“I should’ve fought for us before. I should’ve told you how I felt the first time I saw you standing in that garage with your coffee and that smart-ass grin.
” His hands drop to my shoulders, gripping tight.
“You were everything I wanted and everything I was scared to reach for. And when I finally had you, I got too used to thinking I’d lose you. ”
His voice lowers, rough and trembling. “I don’t ever want to lose you again, Adrienne.
I’ll fight for you. I’ll fight for us. I’ll protect what we have with everything I’ve got.
” He presses his forehead harder against mine, like he needs me to feel it.
“You want L.A.? I’ll pack my shit and go.
You want to stay here? I’ll build whatever life you want, however you want it.
Just—just don’t walk away from me. Don’t make me live in a world where I don’t get to love you. ”
He brushes a tear off my cheek with his thumb, voice softening. “I was gonna tell you the other night. When I gave you that locket.” His jaw trembles as he swallows hard. “I wanted to tell you that you’re it for me. Always have been. I just didn’t want to screw it up by saying it too late.”
My heart feels like it’s splitting open in my chest. “You didn’t screw anything up.”
He lets out a shaky laugh, a tear sliding down his own cheek. “Yeah, I did. But I’ll spend the rest of my life making it right if you’ll let me.”
I lift a trembling hand to his face, thumb tracing the wet line on his cheek. “You already are.”
His mouth finds mine again, slower now, less desperate, more reverent. The kind of kiss that feels like forever starting right here. I can feel the tremor in his hands as they slide into my hair, like he’s scared I’ll disappear if he lets go.
When he finally pulls back, he’s smiling. “This is that moment.”
“What moment?”
He looks at me like he’s memorizing me; every tear, every breath, every inch. His thumb traces my bottom lip, gently. “The one where everything changes. When you stop fighting it, stop running, and just… know.”
“Know what?” I whisper.
“That it’s real. That you’ve found your person. That you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.” He presses his forehead to mine, voice trembling as he says, “This… us. This is that moment.”
When he kisses me again, it’s like the world exhales with me, letting all of my fear go. His hands move down, rough palms mapping my skin like he’s relearning every inch of me. The tears, the fight, the fear, they all burn away until there’s only raw emotion left between us.
The sheet slips from my body, pooling at our feet. His shirt joins it. Then his jeans. He’s everywhere, his hands and lips and the soft scrape of stubble against my neck.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he rasps, voice unsteady. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I swear I’ll spend my life proving I do.”
He lifts me easily, carrying me back to the bed, lowering me onto the cool sheets.
His eyes never leave mine as he settles over me, every line of him pressed into me.
Like he’s trying to show me everything he can’t put into words.
I arch into him, my fingers threading through his hair, a soft cry breaking from my lips as he moves.
He cups my face, his forehead pressed to mine, whispering between breaths, “I’ve got you. Always. I’ll protect you, love you, fight for you every damn day.”
Tears spill again, but they’re not from pain. It’s an overwhelming release of years of holding back. Years of wondering why it never felt right with anyone else. Years of wondering if it was me, when the entire time, I was just holding myself back from my person.
When I come apart beneath him, he’s right there with me. His mouth is on my neck, his voice rough and wrecked as he pants I love you over and over again.
After, he stays inside me, both of us still trembling, breaths mingling in the quiet. His thumb strokes my cheek as he whispers, “This is why I was scared. Because this… this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love, baby.”