Exhaling, she checked the clock for a fourth time. They must have pushed his flight back till tomorrow, but if they did that, why didn’t he call? He must be mad at her, and she was honestly over it all. She didn’t want to fight with him. When the tears started to well up in her eyes, she decided that she needed to get to bed. She needed to be able to pick him up tomorrow, and if she didn’t go to sleep, she wouldn’t make it to the airport by nine like she was supposed to.

Standing up, she made sure everything was locked up before going to their room to undress and get in the bed. Shutting off her lamp, she checked her phone once more and set her alarm before turning on her Pandora. It was the only way she could sleep without Karson. After plugging her phone in so it wouldn’t die, she cuddled into Karson’s pillow, and as soon as she shut her eyes, tears leaked out the sides of her eyes. It smelled just like him, and she missed him so much. She wanted to believe that things would be okay, but all she could think was that, for the rest of her life, Karson and her dad would be at each other’s throats. Holidays would be tense and horrible because people couldn’t get along. She knew the only way that would change was if she and Karson split up or she stopped talking to her dad, but she couldn’t do that. She loved her dad—he was her only parent—but she also loved Karson. With her whole fucking heart and she needed him like her next breath.

But would that be enough?

As her lip wobbled, she cuddled into his pillow and shut her eyes tighter, wishing sleep would take her, but all she could do was think about the shit that was going on. Biting into her lip, she wished it would all go away and that she and Karson could be happy and that everyone would just be fucking happy. Was that too much to ask for?

When the bed shook with someone getting into it, she whipped around, her body hitting a hard one. She let out a cry of distress but then Karson’s arms came around her, hugging her close to him. Kissing her forehead and then her nose, his lips moved along hers as he held her tight. Melting against him, more tears leaked out of her eyes. Her love for him ran deeper than anything in this world and she couldn’t lose him. She just couldn’t, but the world was against them, it seemed.

Could they win?

“I thought you were going to call me,” she whispered against his lips. He pulled away, his eyes searching hers.

“I didn’t want to get you out of bed, and I don’t know,” he whispered back, his arms tightening around her. “I just feel off.”

“Me too,” she admitted. “I don’t like fighting.”

“But we’ve done that a lot lately,” he said sadly and she nodded, tears stinging her eyes. “You know what I was thinking about as we rode back?”

She shook her head. “What?”

His mouth pulled up at the side as his eyes filled with tenderness. “That moment in the coffee shop when I had the Catappellas sing to you.”

She smiled as a tear rolled down her cheeks. “I knew I loved you then.”

He closed his eyes as he leaned against her head. “I always knew I was going to love you. Forever, actually, and I have and always will, but mostly, I was thinking of that song. I listened to it over and over again because it reminded me of how perfect we are. That our love is true and I don’t want it to ever end.”

“Me neither,” she whispered as her fingers traced over his lips. “I just feel like everything and everyone is against us.”

“They are. That’s why it’s so important that we don’t ever forget what’s important. We can’t let anyone win except for us. We have to win because our love is worth fighting for,” he said, his eyes blazing with love for her. She could see in his eyes that he meant every single word, and she felt it in her soul that he was completely right.

They did have a love to fight for.

The next morning, Lacey was at her computer on the phone with Rachel while Karson slept in. They had spent the night cuddling and making love. She’d never felt more in love than she did at that moment. She needed to stop worrying about all the outside shit and remember that their love was strong. As she watched him sleep, the sun shining on his sweet face, all she could remember was that moment in the coffee shop when he sat there and said words that, to this day, she still hadn’t forgotten.

“I can’t sing for shit, but I will pay to have someone sing to you. I don’t dance well, but I’ll do it just for the chance to touch you. I’m not one to listen to guys sing to find the perfect song for a girl, but I did for you. Most of all, I don’t usually pour my heart out to a person in front of a full coffee shop because I’m not that much of a romantic, but for you, I’d do it all. I’d do anything to be with you, and I’ve waited for someone like you my whole life. It’s true, all of it, and I would be the luckiest man in the world if you’d agree to go out on a date with me. Please give me the chance to make you fall for me like I have been falling since the first moment I set eyes on you.”

She could still remember the way he looked, the way he smelled, and the way he tasted. She was completely and utterly his and had been even after he left. It was one of her favorite memories of them and one she would never forget. With a grin on her face, she leaned against her hand as she printed out a sheet of locations she wanted to check out today. They had plans to go look at buildings for a potential expansion of Lacey’s Lace. Karson suggested it before they fell asleep last night and Lacey was beyond excited. She was ready to open another chapter of her life in Nashville.