“They have reason to be. They almost lost you.”

“Don’t make excuses for them,” she warned, her eyes flashing with anger. “They did everything to keep us apart.”

Oh, sweetheart, more than you know, he thought as he nodded. “That being said, they did it because they wanted to protect you.”

“I don’t care. They hurt me more keeping you away. But whatever, it’s over. I’m sorry for what he did.”

“And I’m sorry I wasn’t man enough to jump on a plane, fly here, and beg you to take me back. I was a coward.”

Her eyes softened. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Karson. We were kids.”

“Still, I knew I loved you more than anything in this world. I knew that you were it, and I walked away. I’m sorry for that.”

Her eyes clouded with tears as she slowly nodded. “I forgive you.”

Relief washed over him. He had been waiting for those words since he’d shut the door to her dorm room. Unable to express his gratitude for her forgiveness, he only nodded as he took in a deep breath. She smiled and he smiled back, his heart aching in his chest for this woman. Clearing his throat, he said, “You know I still love you, right?”

Her grin grew as her face reddened with color. “I had a feeling.”

“The same feeling?” he asked, a smirk forming on his lips as his eyes danced with hers.

“Yes, Karson,” she whispered. “The same feeling.”

Leaning forward, he brought her palm up to his mouth, placing a sweet kiss there before he said, “Good.”

“Ugh, you’re going to make me cry,” she laughed, fanning her face, he guessed to keep the tears in.

He smiled. “Good tears I’m okay with. Anything else is not allowed.”

“They are good, I promise,” she said as she dabbed her eyes. “It all just seems so unreal. Like I’ve waited for this moment my whole life.”

“Me too, baby, and to think we have so much more life to live.”

She grinned as she nodded before taking a deep breath. Waving him off, still with a beautiful grin on her face, she said, “Ugh, now where was I? Oh, yeah, so Rachel helps me run things,” she said, picking up where she left off. He chuckled as their fingers laced back together, his thumb rubbing slowly over the back of her hand as his lips rested against his hand. “We ship all over the country, and I’ve been on talk shows and the news. It’s been a crazy ride since it started.”

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” he said, and he was. His heart was pouring with pride and love for her. It always did when he thought about what she had been doing with her business. Any time he got the chance to promote her stuff, he did. As much as he didn’t like to think about it, his mom and sister even owned pieces by her. “I saw you on Oprah.”

She grinned. “Oh, my gosh, I was a mess that day.”

“You were stunning. I think it’s still on my DVR.”

Her face deepened with color. “I still have when you scored that goal in game six, pushing a game seven for the Cup on mine.”

“That was a good game, beauty of a shot, right over his shoulder from the damn blue line,” he noted, smiling when she did.

“It was amazing.”

“Yeah, it was,” he said, grinning like a fool. “So you’ve been keeping up with me?”

“Yeah. It’s hard not to.”

“I know what you mean. Even the stuff I didn’t want to know, I still kept up with.”

“Like?” she asked, and he could tell that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Ethan Stanford.”

She nodded. “Biggest mistake of my life.”

“Could have told you that,” he said, his body tense with jealousy.

“Yeah, well, if you would have been around, it wouldn’t have happened, huh?”

He smiled. “Touché.”

She grinned. “You broke his nose.”

“He ran into my elbow,” Karson defended, but just as quickly as he said it, she saw through it. Of course he was lying.

She snorted. “Liar. He was just skating by, and the next thing I knew, you took him out.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what you are talking about. But if I did, and that did happen, it could be because I read of you two’s engagement not an hour before the game.”

“Ew,” she said, making a face of disgust. “Bad timing, huh?”

He laughed. “Yeah, so hypothetically speaking, my elbow met the douchebag’s face, and I didn’t feel the least bit sorry for it.”

Karson could tell she tried to hold back her laughter, but it didn’t work, and soon she dissolved in giggles. Watching her, he smiled. Man, he loved when she laughed. It really brought out the beauty in her face. He wondered if she’d laughed a lot since he’d been gone, and instantly, he hated any man who had made her laugh. He wanted to be the one to make her laugh, to be the one on the receiving end of that beautiful smile. When her laughter finally subsided, she took a sip of her wine and then met his gaze.

“I never saw a special woman by your side all these years.”

“Because you were here,” he said instantly. It was true. “Apparently the memo didn’t get to you that we were supposed to be together,”

“Damn messenger,” she joked and he smiled.

“Must have gotten lost on the way back to you.”