It’s my turn to laugh. “You kind of made me a social media junkie these past two weeks when I never was before. You see, there’s been this boy I like . . . and he’s been refusing to talk to me in person. But since he only talked to me online, I became one of those annoying people who look at their phone every five seconds.”
“Is that so?” His voice is coy. His expression feigned innocence.
“Mm-hmm.”
“You only just like him?”
I purse my lips. Scrunch my nose. Pretend that I have to think about it. “Hmm. More than like. Definitely love.”
He grants me a quick flash of a grin. “There’s frosting in your hair.” He reaches out and touches it before his eyes find mine again.
“Sorry.”
“I wouldn’t have you any other way. Don’t you know that yet?”
And those words.
Simple acceptance of who I am. It does funny things to my insides, or maybe it’s the man who said them that does.
I smile softly at him, reach down, and link my fingers with his. “Thank you.”
“No. You don’t need to thank me, Saylor. You should never have to apologize for being you. Because you . . . you’re beautiful and smart and sexy and defiant and creative and hot-headed and crazy-funny and spontaneous. I love every single one of those things about you, plus all the other things I forget until you do them and then that makes me remember them.” He smiles again and squeezes my hand. My heart swells. “I walked away ten years ago thinking I could forget you. That I could chase my dreams and move on. That first loves could never be last loves. God, how I was wrong. There’s something to be said for falling in love with someone you grew up with. I know all your flaws, Saylor. Your weaknesses. Your strengths. Your fears. Your mistakes. And I fucking love you for every single one of them. They make you, you. And in turn, they make us, us.”
“Hayes.” His name is a sigh of affection on my lips.
“No. Shh. I’m the actor, I get to hog the stage right now.” I laugh as he does. Know he’s joking and nod in agreement.
“What is it about actors and wanting attention?”
“Funny. Very funny,” he teases before leaning in and kissing me again. This time though he slips his tongue between my lips and takes the kiss a little deeper. His hands tremble as they frame my face and that little action tells me everything I need to know. If he’s nervous, then this matters to him, and I’ve been worth the trouble. “What I have with you, Saylor, I don’t want with anyone else. You’ve marked me. Not just my heart with your love or my mind with your words, but more so my soul with everything you are. Everything you aspire to be. And everything you think we can be together.”
He puts a finger to my lips when I start to speak. I try to tell him this is all too much, too kind, too overwhelming when for so long there was nothing but emptiness without him. But how can I say to stop when my heart feels so full, my soul so completed, when I can’t remember it ever feeling this way before?
“I know it’s been sudden, and that all of this has come out of nowhere. Knocked us on our asses in bright paparazzi camera flashes of light. But it’s real, Saylor. We’re real. The realest thing I’ve ever had in my life that I’ve built on making believe.” He looks down at our fingers linked together before lifting his eyes to mine and smiling softly. “I can’t promise you it will be easy because you’ve gotten a taste of my craziness, but I can promise you that we’ll make us work. We’ll figure out a way. Buy a house between our jobs. Or open a second bakery in Hollywood. Buy a damn chopper if need be so you can make your deliveries. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it because I don’t want to go another day without knowing you’re mine. We’ve lost too much time already, and I don’t want to miss any more. So what do you say, Ships? Want to try to make this thing work long-term for us?”
My whole body trembles from the truth in his words and the honesty in his eyes. Tears blur my vision but when I look at him, I remember the boy with gangly legs and a Star Wars obsession. I recall our first kiss and reminisce over the nerves we shared our first time together. Then I think of the few occasions he held me while I cried and the numerous times we’ve laughed so hard our sides hurt. And then I see the man he’s turned into. The considerate, funny, handsome, intelligent, romantic man he is, and I know without a doubt we can make this work.
He’s my soul mate.
There’s only one love that matters more than your first love: Your last love. How damn lucky am I that both of mine are the same person?
With that thought on my mind, I lean forward and press the sweetest of kisses against his lips. Lean my forehead against his. Close my eyes. And feel at home.
“I know you say words are cheap but those words you just said? Those words were priceless, Hayes Whitley.”
“So are you.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tighter into him.
“And I think long-term suits me just fine.”