Page 79 of Buzzer Beater

“I do.”

He finally smiled and reached up, grazing his fingers along my cheek. “I love you, Lucy.”

Something in me seemed to click into place. My hands pressed against his chest, needing to feel him. “I love you, too.”

His eyes watered as he shook his head. “I’ve been waiting for five years to hear you say that again.”

He pressed his lips against mine and held me close enough that I could feel his heart racing in his chest. In an instant, my doubts and worries disappeared. We were together. Despite it all, we’d found each other again.

I pulled back and looked up at him. “How did I get so lucky?”

He smiled. “I’ve been asking myself that since we met. Even when we were apart, I thought I was lucky to be able to say you were once mine. I can’t imagine how horrible the odds of us getting back together were, but we beat them.”

I nodded and kissed his jaw, trailing kisses from his chin to his ear. “I love you, Colin Brassard.”

He beamed and turned his head, possessing my lips.

This was it. This was perfection.

22

Colin

I wanted to live in our happy bubble forever. I didn’t want to leave the room or the resort to face real life. I rubbed my knuckles up and down Lucy’s bare arm as we swayed in the hammock on the deck. It was perfect. The ocean below us, the sun shining down, and the woman I loved, back in my arms where she belonged.

“I’m getting a little bit hungry.” Her voice broke the silence.

“I’ll call room service.”

Her laugh vibrated against my chest. “We’ll have to leave eventually.”

I shook my head and kissed the top of her head. “No. I’ll buy the room.”

“Technically it’s Colby and Kendall’s. They’ll be back soon.”

I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. “They ruin everything.”

She tilted her head up and looked at me. “They’re the reason I’m still here. They’re the reason we’re here like this right now.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, they didn’t ruin this.”

She pushed up and kissed me again, taking away every stray thought in my brain. When she pulled back, her cheeks were rosy and her lips, thoroughly kissed. “Let’s go get food.”

“If we must.” I rolled over and kicked my feet to the ground. I stood then helped her up.

“Do you feel better?”

She looked up through her lashes and nodded. “Better than I have in years.”

“Good.” I kissed her forehead, took her hand, and led us off the deck and out of the room. “Do you want to see if we can get into any of the restaurants or just go to the buffet?”

“The buffet is fine. I didn’t get to eat lunch.”

She was smirking when I shot her a look and burst out laughing.

“Oh sure. Laugh it up. Ha. The big romantic gesture I planned was a disaster. Ha ha.”

She squeezed my hand and pulled us to a stop. “I do really appreciate what you did. I can’t believe you remembered the song.”