34. Liam

34

LIAM

M arley’s arms around me, her quiet forgiveness, is like a salve to my soul. All the tension, worry, and doubt I carried with me all day fades until it’s small enough to set aside.

I lean back from her arms and cradle her soft chin in my fingers. “I missed you today. That’s crazy, right?”

She smiles and shakes her head before leaning in to kiss my lips. It’s short and soft and feels like heaven. “No. I missed you too.”

Feeling my heart soar, I kiss her lips again, deepening it until I’m drinking from her like a fountain. I pour myself into her in return, praying that she can sense how I feel about her, even if I don’t fully understand it myself. I’ve seen the way Max looks at Gus. I’ve seen the way my father looked at my mother. I know this is the same thing.

Love.

Deep and endless. A craving, a knowing that Marley is the other half of my heart.

Even if I don’t deserve her, even if my heart feels too broken, if I feel too broken. It doesn’t change the fact that she is mine. And I am hers.

As my hands slide across her neck and into her hair, I make a silent promise that I’ll figure out how to make myself whole for her. I’ll be not just the man she wants, but the man she needs. The man that will make her whole.

We sink into the couch together, hands gripping and pulling, mouths searching for words we’re not ready to say. Only when I feel like she’s been fully worshiped, do I make love to her like it’s the first and last time. Like we’re starting something new.

And my God, is it beautiful.

“You do realize you are the most beautiful woman in the world, right?” I ask Marley later that night. It’s late, far after we should be asleep, but we are clinging together in my bed after making love for the last three hours.

If I had my way, I’d stay right here, just like this, for the rest of my life.

She laughs as if my declaration is the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard. The laugh is a little embarrassed and the way her eyes cast downward hints at a past where she has been told otherwise. It makes me furious that anyone would make her feel less than perfect, and since I can’t go punch every person in her past in the face, I vow to convince her otherwise. “That’s ridiculous.”

I draw the pad of my thumb across her plump, perfect lips. “No, it’s not, Marley. You are stunning.”

She presses her lips together in something resembling a smile. “Thank you, but…”

“But nothing,” I cut her off. “Ever since the moment I first saw you, I’ve thought you were the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“You mean when I accused you of stealing my apartment?”

I chuckle, remembering that day, shocked that it’s only been a month since the moment we landed on each other’s doorstep. “No, the day that I accused you of stealing my apartment.”

She laughs. “I still can’t wait to find out who signed the lease first. Even though I know it was me.”

“Me,” I answer, kissing her lips. “But don’t worry, I’ll let you stay.”

She pokes me in the ribs in response. “Good, because I’m not leaving. I’m not moving again. I can’t handle another move.”

Though I’m thrilled that she has no plans of leaving, the firmness of her response piques my interest. “Have you moved a lot?”

She lets out a weary grumble. “Constantly,” she answers. “At least every two years as a child, sometimes faster.”

“Wow,” I answer, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Was your dad in the Air Force or something?”

She snorts. “No, nothing that responsible. He is a professional wanderer. He never feels settled anywhere and never commits to anything for very long. There was always a better job, better towns, better pay, better schools for me.”

“That sounds exhausting.” I kiss her forehead. “That had to be so hard as a kid.”

“Impossible,” she answers. “Just when I’d make a new friend or feel like I could be in a club or play a sport, he’d tear up all our roots again. I got to the point that I just stopped trying. It was easier to be lonely than to lose another friend. Easier to keep my things in boxes than pull them out and put them back in.”

I pull her closer, trying to imagine what a life like that would be like. How heartbreaking, how unsettled. “I’m so sorry.”

Her fingers curl around my shoulders. “My mom finally divorced him a few years ago. I know she feels guilty for putting up with him for so long, for dragging me along with his delusion that the perfect life was just one town over.” She looks up at me and I can see tears in her pretty green eyes. “She tries to make up for it by being overprotective now, but I don’t blame her. She was in love. She believed him.”

“I guess that explains why you wanted this apartment so badly.”

She chuckles softly. “That and there was literally nowhere else to go.”

I kiss her. “That too. Does it make me a heel if I’m glad we got stuck together?”

“No,” she answers, pulling herself up to kiss me hard on the mouth. “But you need to understand that I will fight for this place.” She motions to the apartment and then melts my entire world by pointing to my chest. “And this one.”

Rolling her over and spreading her legs, I kiss a line down her belly. “Baby girl, that is a lifetime lease.”