Page 115 of Cross + Catherine: The Companion

“Naz, right?” she asked.

Like she didn’t know his name.

Like she didn’t know who he was.

She knew.

He liked that she teased him that way, though.

Suddenly, his brain went quiet. All that chaotic shit that just never left him alone—all the things he learned and knew that constantly kept him awake unless he worked his body to the bone was silent.

He was not Naz, the genius. He wasn’t Naz, the guy working to become a made man, and the gunrunner on the weekends.

His brain was struggling to remember how to talk to a fucking girl. His heart actually raced, and he was pretty sure his palms were sweaty.

It was crazy.

And amazing.

“Uh … Naz?” Luca asked, touching his beer bottle to the side of Naz’s head. “You okay?”

Naz pushed his friend’s hand away.

Rosalynn grinned wider. “It is, though, right? Naz?”

Finally, his incredibly smart brain decided to work.

Naz nodded. “Yeah, it’s Naz.”

“So hey,” Rosalynn said, biting on her bottom lip, “maybe they’re starting to dance a bit, if you want to come in and join me, Naz.”

He didn’t even have to think about it, or how he wanted to respond.

He knew.

Knew he finally found her.

Knew by the way his heart felt, and his soul was suddenly alive. Like there was some piece of him that had been waiting to find her, and now it finally had. And it was trying to crawl out of him, slipping around under his surface, and reaching out to her.

He knew.

His father used to say that’s sometimes how it happened for men like them. All at once, and a lightning bolt that came out of fucking nowhere to strike them hard, and put them on their goddamn knees.

To remind them faith was real.

God was good.

Love was true.

“A dance?” she asked again.

“Yeah,” Naz said. “I would love a dance with you, sweetheart.”

And he knew—somehow he knew—there would come a time when this was their party. Their families. Their day. Their upcoming wedding.

She was the one.

She was his one.

Life and love was funny like that. Naz wasn’t even going to complain.

How could he when she was still staring at him, waiting?