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“That I’d fallen in love at first sight.”

She shakes her head, not believing. “But you didn’t say anything.”

“No, but if I remember correctly, the next sentence out of Luke’s mouth was ‘And this is her boyfriend, Jack.’”

She smiles. “John. He was so annoying.”

“He sure loved talking about himself.”

“You remember that?”

“I remember the look of boredom on your face as he rambled on about his job. But I would never flirt with a woman who has a boyfriend.”

She looks at me, and I can practically see the walls crumbling down. “I didn’t have a boyfriend anymore at Mads’s wedding.”

I swallow a lump in my throat. “I know.”

“So what happened there?”

“I chickened out. I knew that if I dated you, that would be it. We would get married, have kids, all things that I wasn’t ready for. That I didn’t even want back then.”

“But you want them now?”

“Yes.”

She hesitates, like she’s scared to ask me something. “So, Avery is right. You were always in love with me?”

“Yes.” I stare into her eyes. “I am in love with you. I love you, Ames.”

“How do I know that you’re not going to get scared again and push me away?”

I take a long breath, giving myself time to think. She has every right to ask that question. I should be asking it myself. But as she lies there looking so uncertain, like one wrong word from me could bring her to tears, I know the real answer to that question.

“I’m in too deep this time. All I’ve ever wanted was to see you happy. There was a time when you didn’t care what I did, and I could watch you be happy with Ethan from afar. All of that changed from the moment I brought you back to this room. I want to make you happy. I always have. I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted in a relationship. I won’t get scared or run away. First of all, because I don’t want to. I want you. And second of all, because I don’t want to hurt you. Even if you don’t believe anything else, you have to believe that.”

She traces my brow with her index finger, and I feel the tingles deep in my chest.

“Did you tell Nina that I’m your boyfriend when I kissed you at the bar?” I ask.

“I told her that we’re seeing each other.”

“Are you ready for that? For us to tell the town that we’re in a relationship?” My voice comes out choked.

She closes her eyes. “I am. But I worry about Chase.”

“Lets the three of us have dinner tomorrow night. We’ll tell Chase first, so he doesn’t hear it from someone else.”

“If Ethan hasn’t already…”

“Whatever Ethan’s told him, it’ll be better once he hears it from us.”

“Oh, I can’t tomorrow. We’re having dinner with Mads.”

“We can have dinner the four of us then, we’ll tell her too.”

“I’m pretty sure she wants us to talk about you, which would be difficult with you there. Although, with Chase around…”

“Well, then, that’s perfect. We’ll have dinner the four of us, and after dinner, I’ll take Chase to the carnival and give the two of you time to talk about me.”