Chapter 31

31

TRISTAN

I turn to go, my heart shattering into a million pieces. The weight of her disappointment, of the pain I caused, it all comes crashing down on me in this moment. I can’t take it anymore.

My vision blurs through my tears. I’m crying like a fucking baby. But I won’t let her see me this broken.

I stumble toward the door, my feet dragging. Each step takes me further away from her, from the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. But she doesn’t want me. Not anymore. And I must respect her choice.

Coming here was a mistake. To think she could ever forgive me for the things I’ve done. The lies I’ve told. The hearts I’ve broken, including my own. I was a fool for believing we could make this work, that our love was strong enough to overcome the hurt and betrayal—it was all just a beautiful, terrible fantasy. One I have to let go of.

I reach for the doorknob, my hand shaking uncontrollably. This is it. The end of the line for us. I have to walk away now before I completely fall apart. Before she sees the cracks in my facade, the brokenness inside.

I hesitate, fighting the urge to look back at her one last time. To memorize every line and plane of her face, every golden strand of hair. But I know if I do, I’ll never be able to pull out. I’m about to open the door, ready to leave my heart behind, shattered on her doorstep, when Nina’s voice stops me. “Tristan.” My name on her lips, uttered like a plea and a prayer, stops me in my tracks, hand outstretched.

Slowly, I turn back to face her. She walks toward me, eyes shimmering with some undefinable emotion that punches me hard in the sternum. When she reaches me, she lifts her hand and cups my cheek. Her touch is soft but sure.

We stand there for a long moment, gazing at each other in loaded silence. I search her expressive eyes, trying to decipher what she’s thinking. What this means.

Finally, she speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know what kind of fucked up family you had growing up or why they didn’t love you like you deserve.”

The scars of old wounds throb dully at her words. But she continues, her tone fierce now.

“Because you’re worthy of being loved, Tristan.” Her thumb grazes over the stubble shadowing my jaw, leaving tingles in its wake. “And when people love you, they don’t just leave at the first bump in the road or after a fight.”

Hope flares in my chest, dangerous and bright. I study her face intently, hardly daring to believe what I’m hearing. “What are you saying, Nina?” My voice comes out rough, laced with a vulnerability I rarely show.

Her lips quirk into the hint of a smile. “I’m saying that you made me fall in love with you, dumbass.” Her words almost knock me off my feet. I blink rapidly, stunned. “And that’s not just going to go away because you behaved like a jerk. And yes, we will fight.”

“We will?” I ask faintly, struggling to process this sudden shift. Moments ago, I was drowning in despair, convinced I’d lost her for good. Now she’s telling me she loves me? That there will be fights?

“Yes, we will. And we’ll get petty, and frustrating, and unbearable at times.” Amusement dances in her emerald eyes. “I’ll give you the silent treatment for days just for not putting laundry in the hamper.”

A surprised laugh escapes me. Her words paint a picture of a shared life, a future, and warmth spreads through my chest at the thought, chasing away the despair.

I let myself smile tentatively. “I’m afraid the opposite will be true. You’re way messier than I am.” She’s a hurricane of chaos everywhere but at work.

“But we don’t leave,” she says firmly, still caressing my cheek. “When you love someone, you don’t leave.” Her gaze bores into mine, seeking assurance. “Promise me now that you won’t leave again.”

Emotion clogs my throat. I grasp her hand and pull her into a fierce embrace, burying my face in her blonde waves. Her scent envelops me, soothing and arousing at once. “I promise,” I rasp.

Drawing back slightly, I cup her cheeks, thumbs stroking her soft skin. “Do you promise the same?” I hardly recognize my voice, tremulous and unsure.

She meets my eyes steadily. “Yes, Tristan. I promise the same.” She smiles now. “You and me? We’re endgame.”

Relief crashes over me, followed by a swell of love and longing so intense it consumes me whole. I crush my mouth to hers, pouring everything I feel into the kiss. Nina responds with matching fervor, her lips parting under mine.

As I rediscover the feel of her mouth, I feel like I’ve finally come home. Here, with her in my arms, the universe clicks into place. The jagged pieces of my heart start to mend.

Her mouth crashes into mine again and again, each touch repairing the voids and cracks her absence had left in me. Nina’s fingers tangle in my hair as I pull her body flush against me, desperate to eliminate any remaining space between us. The kiss deepens, igniting a fire within me that spreads unchecked through my veins. I pour every ounce of longing and desire I’ve felt these past few days into this kiss, savoring the softness of her lips and the intoxicating taste of her.

My hands roam her curves, relishing the way they fit perfectly in my grasp. Nina lets out a soft moan against my mouth and it’s nearly my undoing. I grip her hips, thumbs brushing the exposed sliver of skin where her sweater rides up. She arches into my touch, our bodies melding together as if we were made for each other.

I trail kisses along her jawline and down the column of her neck, drunk on the scent of her—sugar and something uniquely Nina. She tilts her head back, hands fisting in my shirt. I nip at her collarbone and she gasps. That sound shoots straight to my core. I need to hear it again. And again.

My fingers find the hem of her sweater and start inching it upward, revealing more of her smooth skin that I ache to map with my hands and mouth. Nina’s fingers are just as eager, hastily working the buttons of my shirt. We’re seconds away from ripping each other’s clothes off right here in her living room when the doorbell rings.

I open the door since I’m the closest one. A pizza delivery guy with three larges in his hands waits on the other side, I hand him a hundred-dollar bill and tell him to keep the change.

I drop the pizzas on Nina’s counter and I’m about to kiss her again when she blocks me.

“Wait.” Nina pulls back slightly. “My roommates. They’re right in the other room.”

I groan, resting my forehead against hers as I close my eyes and fight to keep under check the beast within me that wants to come out and devour her. Nina’s right. As much as I want to lay her down on the couch and worship every inch of her gorgeous body, we can’t. Not here.

“We could go back to my place…” I suggest halfheartedly, already knowing the answer.

Nina raises an eyebrow. “With Dylan there? I know he’s okay with us dating now, but I don’t think he’s quite at the ‘my best friend banging my little sister in the next room’ level of chill yet.”

I chuckle. She has a point. “You’re right.”

“He needs to move out of your place.”

“Agreed. But that’s a future solution. I need a now solution.”

She worries her lower lip in that adorable way of hers. “I don’t know.” Her eyes stray down the hall leading to her bedroom. “The walls in this house are super thin…”

I move closer, whispering softly against the curve of her ear. “Then I’ll have to gag you. Because there’s no way in hell I’m waiting another minute to make love to you.”

Her eyes sparkle at my words. In one smooth motion, I scoop Nina up into my arms. She lets out a surprised gasp, legs automatically wrapping around my waist. Nina shivers against my chest and captures my mouth in a searing kiss. Grinning, I carry her to the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind us.

We collapse onto her bed in a heap of laughter. But as I stare down at her, my smile fades, replaced by a tidal wave of emotion.

“I love you.” I tenderly brush a golden strand from her face.

She traces the contours of my face with her fingertips. “I love you too.”

When I still don’t move, she arches into me. “Tristan, please.”

I kiss her again, slow and deep, savoring each precious second. Each untold promise I can read in her eyes. It’s a kiss that tastes of a future together. Of shared moments, big and small. The beginning of a life together made of cold winter days passed snuggling by the fire. Of hurried breakfasts before work where a goodbye kiss is savored more than coffee. And of endless nights spent in each other’s arms after a long day apart. I can see us brushing our teeth side by side in the bathroom, fighting for supremacy over the sink. And picture countless weekend mornings, where the only plan is to have no plans at all.

A lifetime of love and laughter, of happiness. Where we show up for each other. Every day.