AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cornell pulled back and brought one hand up to caress to her cheek, letting his eyes brush over every inch of her face—her bold brow and full lips, eyes that reminded him of the night in the bar over a year ago when Cornell never stood a chance. It was a struggle to want to hold her against him and look at every part of her at the same time. But he needed to see her eyes. Cornell was desperate for Ali to believe him.
“Don’t. Don’t say that.” As he spoke, Ali turned her head further into his hand as if she wanted to hide. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything.”
And even though it had been the most painful time of his life, Cornell meant it. Not one ounce of him was upset with Ali, hurt by her. Not one piece of him loved her any less. But every fiber of his being was hurt and angry for her in a way that was so strong it made his blood pump angrily in his veins every day since he found out.
But that only proved that every part of Cornell loved Ali more in that moment than ever before. She was the thing that set it all in motion and the thing that paused it all in an instant—she was the force.
“I love you,” Cornell told her, running his thumb along her cheekbone softly. Ali’s eyes drifted to his, and his stomach dropped at the timidness in them. “What comes after forever?” he asked, cupping her cheek.
Ali smiled sadly. “I don’t know. Why?”
“Because I’m going to love you past it, no matter what. I promise.”
There was the smallest shake of her shoulders but no tears. Ali took a breath and flung herself at Cornell, returning her arms to his neck. Her grip was so strong it seemed she was holding him like she might float away.
“Hold me tighter.”
His eyes shut at her request, his mouth twisting into a frown. “Ali, your—”
Ali squeezed him. “Please.”
Cornell sighed and tightened his arms. He slid his nose down from the top of her head and rested his forehead on her shoulder, leaning on it so much that his backward hat slipped from his hair and landed on the floor. And for a minute, everything was exactly how it should be.
Until she spoke, and Cornell was reminded that it wasn’t anymore.
“I just want it all to go back to how it was.”
There was something in Ali’s voice that let Cornell know she was less talking to him and more trying to convince herself. It could never, and it would never, but Cornell nodded against her shoulder. “Whatever you want,” Cornell mumbled into her shirt, relaxing as her fingers stroked the hair at the back of his neck. He could try. For Ali, he would try.
He would die trying.
* * *
“I told the dean I’d be back on Monday,” Ali said. “But I want to go tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” In his mind, he had already called out sick to Evan. He imagined a lazy day at home on the very couch they sat on, waiting on Ali hand and foot.
Ali nodded against him. “I can’t sit around and do nothing anymore. I need to get back to work.”
“You might have a welcome parade,” Cornell told her. “I’ve got a team of big ass guys moping around asking when you’ll be back. What is it, the candy drawer?”
He expected Ali to smile, but all she did was shrug.
“Tired?” he asked. Cornell bit the inside of his cheek, recalling the first nightmare, the time Ali called him after the game because she woke up and couldn’t sleep. He thought back to Bobbi telling him she’d been taking sleeping pills. “Sleeping okay?”
Ali sat up. “Better.”
Cornell knew the bar had been pretty low, so he wasn’t so relieved by her answer. He didn’t know if it was right to ask.
Mowgli got up off the rug and retreated quickly from the living room, coming back with his leash and dropping it at Cornell’s feet. “I’ll take him. Why don’t you go lie down?” He clipped the leash to Mowgli’s collar, standing.
Ali reached for his free hand. “Family walk?” she asked with a small smile.
His heart swelled with joy. Family.
Cornell pulled Ali to her feet, and they walked out the front door.
“Nice car,” he said, draping an arm around her shoulders as Mowgli led the way.
