AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about Juliet?” I asked in a whisper.
“She’ll be okay.”
“No, I mean … don’t you love Juliet?” It might have been dense, but I needed to hear it. Every boy I’d ever loved had loved Juliet. The idea that this one—this perfect man who I’d worshipped much longer than I was comfortable admitting—might choose me first? It just seemed impossible.
He laughed, a low rumble that twisted up my insides and made me want to lean my head into his chest to hear it better. “No, silly. I love you. Since the moment I first saw you—and I’ve never believed in love at first sight. But I love you, Tess. Only you. And I want to stay here, if you’ll let me.”
I was still shaking my head, but now I heard myself laugh incredulously. “If I’ll let you?”
“Let me stay. Let me take you out on a real date. On a bunch of real dates. Be my girlfriend. Maybe one day … be my wife?”
My mind exploded in sparks at the thought of marrying Ryan, and something inside me—my soul, maybe?—whisperedyes. Yes.
The crowd erupted into applause, and for a second I thought maybe he had a ring hidden in his tux somewhere, but I was relieved when he didn’t produce one. All of this was overwhelming—I’d known him three whole days, after all. A ring would have been actual insanity.
“Will you?” he asked, and the tent quieted again.
I stared up at him, everything in my body already screaming yes. “Will I …?”
“Will you let me stay? Will you let me show you every day how perfect we can be together, how perfect our lives will be?”
“I don’t want perfect,” I said, not really thinking about the words first. His face fell, and I quickly added, “I want real.”
He nodded, understanding lighting his eyes. “Can I stay?”
I smiled up at him. “Please,” I managed. “Please stay.” It was a whisper, but the tent heard it and everyone jumped to their feet, applauding. Ryan put the microphone on the table and slid his arms around me, pulling me into his warm firm body and pressing the softest, sweetest kiss to my lips. It was a kiss that whispered promises and futures. It was a kiss that showed me cozy nights and snuggly sexy mornings. It was the kiss I’d dreamed of my whole life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryan
Tess wanted me to stay.
As she said the words, her eyes shining and fixed on mine, her arms reaching for me, my heart filled and something like warm chocolate flowed through my veins, comfort and hope and excitement all mixing to produce a feeling of happiness like nothing I’d ever known.
And when I kissed her in that tent, in front of the crowd, when I revealed the truth that had been in my heart since the day I’d seen Tess Manchester, my world snapped into alignment. Tess was everything I wanted. I knew she was right for me.
But it was more existential than that. It wasn’t my mind, or my body—though they were both involved—it was deeper. It wasn’t even my heart, I didn’t think. It sounded completely batty, but I was pretty sure it was my soul that identified a partner in Tess the second I saw her.
I’d been with women, I’d dated plenty. And I’d never before felt that instant of revision. I’d never before experienced the sensation that because this person, this singular individual, had stepped into my path, nothing in my life would ever be the same. But I knew it was possible, because I’d felt it happen with Tess.
“I love you, Tess.”
They were the easiest, truest words I’d ever spoken, and I didn’t care if everyone else thought I was nuts.
When I held her in my arms after that perfect, amazing, soul-clenching kiss, as the crowd erupted around us, she’d whispered, “I love you, too.” And I worried I might combust from the perfection of it all.
“Ryan?” A voice interrupted the perfect moment, and I looked over my shoulder to find Alison and the camera crew crowded between the tables, practically drooling. “A couple questions?”
Even with everything I wanted in my arms, my heart fell as I realized what the next few minutes would mean for Juliet. “Sure,” I said. “Let’s step outside.”
Tess squeezed my hand and I led the magazine crew out to the back porch as the party picked back up and the DJ started playing 90s rap, evidently Gran’s favorite, because I heard her thin voice start in with “This here’s a tale for all the fellas…”
* * *
Later,I sat with the Manchester girls on the back porch of the huge old plantation house, the tent dark and silent and the guests and cameras finally gone home. A warm calm surrounded us as I held Tess’s hand and we stared out into the twinkling lights still sparkling in the trees.
“It was a good party, girls,” Gran said. “Plenty of drama, good food, and that cake was amazing, Tess.”
