Chapter 57

57

STERLING

L eaving Eric with the football players on the other side of the float who were trying to clear a path for the firemen to get through, I ran into the chaotic crowd to reach Daphne. I'd never felt fear like I had when I'd realized I didn't know where in the crowd she'd been.

I'd kept my eyes peeled, but I hadn't been able to see her as we'd ridden past. With the burning wreck of the faulty float behind me, I didn't stop running until I'd reached her, wrapped my arms around her, and picked her up.

"You're okay," I breathed as I looked up into her eyes, holding her against me. "Eric is fine too. He's just around the back there."

I'd known she would need to hear that, and I saw the relief softening her features before she smiled at me. "Thank you. Now kiss me."

I brought my mouth to hers, kissing her publicly for the first time but too charged to care about who saw us. Daphne didn't seem bothered about it either as she kissed me back, sweeping her tongue into my mouth and clinging to me like a koala.

My heart was going crazy, racing a million miles a minute as the shock of the fire and the fear of her having been hurt melted into relief so immense that it made my head spin. In those few seconds of utter confusion before the chaos had broken out, I'd realized that I shouldn't have held back this morning.

Although Eric and I hadn't been injured, it'd immediately occurred to me how easily it could've gone the other way and that, if today had been my last day on earth, I would've had only one real regret—not telling her how I felt about her.

"I love you, Daph," I murmured into her mouth, crushing her to me with my chest feeling like it was being fused to hers.

Or rather, like my heart was trying to melt itself into her body.

That was where it belonged anyway.

It belonged to her.

Fully and completely, and I wasn't even scared anymore.

I'd never said those words to a woman that wasn't my mother before, but for as much as I'd always thought it would be petrifying to utter them, all I felt was relief. Relief and a surge of devotion to this girl, who'd always only seen the best in me.

She pulled back to look into my eyes, shock staring back at me from hers. She blinked hard, her lips parted with surprise, but her cheeks were flushed and I swore I saw a smile trying to break free on her lips.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me," I murmured, grinning as I looked up into those sparkling, clear blues that were locked on me. "I love you, Daphne LaSalle."

I didn't even care if she said it back. All my life, I'd thought it would be a complete, humiliating disaster if I said it to someone who didn't feel the same way, but now, all that really mattered was letting her know how I felt.

I couldn't force her feelings, but as she stared down into my eyes, she suddenly smiled and touched her lips to mine once more. "I love you too, Sterling. I think I always have, but I definitely do now."

Before I could respond, Eric ran up to us, his chest heaving and his face streaked with dirt. He bent over, breathing hard as he brought his gaze up to mine. "You're still alright?"

I nodded, letting Daphne down but sliding my hand into hers and bringing her close to my side. "You?"

"Yeah. Daph?"

"I'm fine," she assured him immediately, but she didn't step away from me even when his eyes dropped to our joined hands. "We were way back on the last block when it happened, so Rachel, Jake, and Lizzy are okay too."

"Good," he murmured, sighing as he finally straightened up. His eyes darted between the two of us, and I stared back at him unwaveringly. I knew where he stood on this, but I wasn't backing down anymore.

Daphne seemed to feel the same way. She stayed by my side, both of us waiting to hear what was on his mind as he opened and closed his mouth a few times. To my surprise, when he finally managed to voice his thoughts, it wasn't to come at us again.

"I'm glad you're here right now, North." He didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that I was clutching his sister at all as he tipped his head back at the float. "We need to go and help the boys. I… I knew we shouldn't have used that stupid float. Let's go."

As he said it, firefighters suddenly broke through what remained of the crowd and my eyes slid shut as I realized this meant we could now leave it to trained professionals. Daphne grabbed Eric's wrist, holding him back and shaking her head when she glanced at him.

"I have a better idea. Let's go home and make sure Mom and Dad know we're okay. They've got to be out of their minds with worry and the team will be leaving now too. There's no reason for us to stick around."

"They'll want to get our statements," he said, his voice a little breathy now. As I looked at him again, I realized his eyes had also gone a little glazed over. "The police will be on their way. We'll need to talk to them. Tell them about the engine. I?—"

"You need to come to your parents' place with us," I said firmly, keeping hold of Daphne's hand but putting my other on his shoulder. "Seriously, Eric. I think you may be in shock or something. Let's go."

Guiding them through the crowd to my truck back in the high school parking lot, we piled in with Daphne in the middle. Eric did not say a word all the way to their parents' house. When I parked in front of the garage, both Marty and Janet came running out, racing over to the car.

There were tears in Janet's eyes when she saw her children were both here. Both safe. Marty stood behind her, pale as a ghost as they waited for their kids to get out. Eric opened the door, still without another word to me, almost collapsing into their arms. Janet started sobbing.

Daphne hung back, waiting for me to join her. She deliberately took my hand again as we approached. "Are you guys okay? I know you were way back at the start of the parade, but I was worried anyway."

Marty looked up from his wife and son, nodding at her. He smiled as he glanced at our joined hands. "We're fine, baby. We tried to get to you, but it was just too crazy and we weren't even sure where to start looking, so we decided to come wait here. None of you have any injuries, right?"

"No, we're all good," she replied, releasing me only to give each of her parents a quick hug once they broke away from her brother.

Janet beamed at us, the relief written all over her features as she waved us into the house. "Alright, come on, children. I'm going to get dinner started. You're going to be starving after all that excitement once the shock wears off."

I chuckled, but I was still in a little bit of shock myself. Not about the accident or the fire, though. That float had been a death trap and it hadn't come as a surprise to either Eric or me when the engine had caught fire.

We'd kept everyone clear of that area from the moment we'd stepped onto the thing, and we'd already started evacuating them before we'd even crashed into the football float ahead of us. It'd been a jarring impact, but that was it.

My shock was more about the fact that I was here with the LaSalles now, holding Daphne's hand in front of her family, and none of them had even skipped a beat. As soon as we were inside, she even turned to me, smiling, and stood up on her toes to press a sweet, chaste kiss to my lips.

"I'm going to help my mom. I'll be back soon. Make yourself comfortable, and if Eric takes a swing at you, call my mom."

I'd barely even had time to process that she'd just kissed me when Eric groaned, apparently having seen the whole thing from their living room. Marty had been standing right behind him, but he winked at me when I caught his gaze.

"I don't need to tell you what I'll do to you if you hurt her, right?" he asked lightly, making one hand into a fist and smacking it into the open palm of his other hand.

I shook my head. "No, sir. I think I'm pretty clear on that."

"Excellent." He grinned. His gaze drifted to his son and he jerked a thumb in the direction of the dining room. "I think I'll go set the table. Give you boys a minute to talk. Like Daph said though, if he takes a swing at you, call Janet."

Eric scoffed down a bark of laughter, but when his blue eyes met mine as his father walked away, he sighed and motioned for me to join him. We walked into their living room, sinking down on the couches clustered in front of the TV in the spacious room.

"So this is really happening, huh?" He sat down across from me, his legs spread wide and his elbows resting on them, his eyes not leaving mine. "You and my sister are officially together?"

I shrugged. "I don't know that it's official, but yeah. It's happening."

"You're still leaving tomorrow?" he asked.

"I am," I said. "I'm not just leaving her behind, though. New York is only a plane ride away. I'll figure it out."

Eric just stared at me for another long beat. "I still don't like it, but I won't stand in your way. That wasn't really making much of a difference anyway."

"Does that mean we have your blessing?" I asked, my brow furrowing in disbelief.

He scoffed and shook his head. "Absolutely not, but it does mean you might get it eventually," he said. "You're like a brother to me, North. Always have been. I suppose I'm just going to have to learn how to trust you with this."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but it was like everything suddenly felt just a little lighter. A little more colorful. Like there might actually be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel after all.