I stare at the screen for a minute. My legs don’t seem to move. I can’t explain it, but I feel like opening or not opening this door is a decision about something that I won’t be able to undo.

I thought maybe he’d have left by now, but each day he materializes, stays all afternoon, and then finds a way to see me later. He hasn’t pushed me other than by seeing me everywhere. And in the last eight days, I’ve been smiling. I haven’t cried, and I’ve had a sense of calm.

Damn it.

Here goes nothing.

I open the door, and Wyatt is already standing there in a pair of basketball shorts and no shirt. My mind has trouble firing any thoughts about resisting as I stare at him. His muscles are taut, his chest broad, and now there’s something even sexier on his body. Wyatt got a massive tattoo on his arm.

“You going to invite me in?” he asks after a few seconds of me just looking at him.

“Your arm.” My fingers touch his skin as I trace the patterns. There are a bunch of intricate and thick tribal shapes. It wraps around his entire bicep, only breaking for Chinese lettering that cuts down the middle. “When did you—” I start to ask, but the look in his eyes stops me.

“That’s the first time you’ve touched me like that.”

My lips part. “Like what?”

“Like it wasn’t a choice or a thought.”

I decide not to comment on it. I’m sure I’ll get back to that at some point. Instead, I continue to explore his ink. “What does this mean?” I ask, letting my fingers graze over the words.

“It means: together through thick and thin.”

My eyes meet his and both our breathing quickens a bit. “Why?”

“Because when I lost you, I realized a lot about myself. I realized that no matter what, I wanted to be with you. We lost something that was so precious to us that the thick got too hard, but we’re stronger than that. I know we are. I’ll never hurt you like that again. I want to be with you through it all.”

Tears fall as I listen to him speak.

“I don’t want to make you cry.” He wipes away the drops that fall. “I want to be the reason you smile again. When you were gone, I was broken, Angie. I was lost, hurt, and a fuckin’ mess. It wasn’t until I decided that I didn’t care where I lived, so long as we were together, I would be happy. I wasn’t joking when I said that you’re my home.”

Then, from the ashes of my previously shattered heart, the pieces come back to life. All of the hurt and anger fade away. I feel the honesty in his words, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that what he says is true. I wipe my cheek, step closer to him, and cup his face. “I want you to take me home, Wyatt.”

“Home?”

My heart has only ever been one man’s—his. I’ve spent my entire life waiting for him, and I won’t let him go. He’s right, we’ve had our thick, and while we may not have navigated the fog the best way, we’re here now. I have to believe that even though we faltered, we didn’t fail. Loving Wyatt has shown me that it’s not a weakness to love someone. It isn’t always easy, but nothing worth a damn ever is. I walked away from him because it was up to him to start fighting. And he did.

He fought for me.

He loves me.

I love him.

I don’t want to wait anymore to be with him. I know he’s my forever love. “You’re the only home I’ve ever known. I love you.”

Wyatt

“I LOVE YOU, ANGIE.” I say it again, hoping she hears me. I should’ve done so many things differently, but I can’t lose her again.

Angie looks up with her bright blue eyes swimming with emotions. “I love you, too.”

Now it’s my turn to be stunned.

“I’m pretty sure I was falling in love with you the first night we laid in bed and talked. Or maybe it was the morning we were all tangled up and you didn’t try anything. It could’ve been when you made me my favorite coffee, which was really sweet. Maybe it was even before that when you went stupid and told me I was moving to Bell Buckle and marrying your crazy ass. I don’t really know if I can pinpoint it exactly, but I know that there hasn’t been a moment that I’ve wanted to be anywhere but where you are. When you let me walk away, I couldn’t breathe, Wyatt. I fought myself from calling you or driving back there to make you see how wrong you were.” I watch as her face softens. “I never loved you because we were having a baby. I love you because you’re my other half.”

My arms wrap around her as I hold her close. We stand in the living room of her apartment as it hits me. “You forgive me?”

She nods.

“You want me?”

She nods again. “You would stay here if I asked you?”

“On one condition.” I grin.

“What’s that?”

“I move in here. No more being apart.”

Angie’s eyes brighten. “I missed you.” Her hands glide up my arms and hook around my neck. “I missed this.” Her lips press against mine, and she moves back before I can keep her there.

Since she took her mouth away from me, I brush my thumb across her lips, watching as her eyes close and a shiver travels through her body. “Are you sure? Because I can’t lose you again.”

“I’m sure. I tried to imagine it.”

“Imagine what?”

“Watching you walk away again. I tried to picture my life without you. These last three weeks were horrific.” Angie’s voice trembles. “I couldn’t do it again. I can’t leave you. Not when I feel like this. Not when it hurts. Everything inside me hurt.”

“You love me.” I say the words as a statement.

“Do you love me, Wyatt? Do you really love me? Do you love me enough to never hurt me like that again? I need to know you’ll be here for me.”

She’s so strong most of the time, but she lets me see her insecurities. Angie plays the tough girl, but I get the real her. I know her family crap and how she worries that she’s not worth it. Her mother and brothers have done a real number on her, and I want to take that pain away and show her that she’s worth everything I have.

I would never forsake that.

“I truly, honestly, and deeply love you.” The words are straight from my heart. “I want to make you happy and prove that I’m the man you fell in love with.”

The problem was I thought that guy died in that car wreck, too. She knew the real me was in there, hell, everyone but me did. I was so wrapped up in my own head, I couldn’t see straight. I couldn’t sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I saw her go unconscious. I couldn’t go to the fishing hole because I had to walk past my baby. The one that I held. That I loved. That I lost.

It took my losing her and some very, very angry words from Presley to make me see that the only thing that was my fault was letting her walk away.

“You said once that you were going to make it hard for me to resist you.” Her fingers massage the back of my head. “I just didn’t know you were going to make it impossible.”

I’m done talking. Now, I want to show her how much I love her.

I squat and lift her into my arms. She squeaks and holds on. “I always keep my promises, baby.”