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life. I—”
    “I’m not with anyone,” I said softly.
    She froze and I heard her breath catch. Her hands were trembling between her knees.
    I scooted farther to the edge of the ottoman, closer to her, and held her face in my hands.
    “Do you remember what I told you on my twenty-second birthday?” I paused, searching her beautiful blue eyes, which were glossed over with moisture. “I said it was always about you.” I squeezed her face gently to add emphasis. “It’s
always
been you, Bray. I could never love another girl the way that I’ve loved you since we were kids.
Never
.” I squeezed it again, my jaw grinding. “I’ve tried. Believe me, I tried to go on with my life—dating, relationships. But no matter what I did, no matter who I was with or how good they were to me, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
    I was so intent on explaining these things to her—I had rehearsed them over and over in my mind for four years—that I hadn’t even noticed her tears had changed. Instead of heartbreaking sobs rendering her weak, the tears streaming down her cheeks had become calmer, though heavier, laced with happiness even though there was still a bit of fear.
    But I also hadn’t noticed that
I’d
finally started crying, too.
    “I love you so much, Bray.
So
fucking much!” Sobs rattled my chest briefly until I managed to calm myself.
    Bray finally gave in and lunged forward, wrapping her arms around me. I scooped her up into them, squeezing the life out of her and into me. We shared that life. We always had. And from this day forth, we both knew that we always would.
    Even if it killed us.

Bray
    It’s the hardest thing in the world for me to describe, but when Elias held me in his arms like that, I literally felt whole again. Or maybe for the first time. Because things were different this time around. I
knew
that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. I
knew
I couldn’t walk out that door without him. I
knew
that going forward, no matter what I did, I wanted Elias to be right there with me. Not just as best friends. But as lovers, girlfriend and boyfriend, husband and wife. I didn’t care, as long as we were together and in love the way we were meant to be.
    His lips covered mine and he kissed me deeply, passionately, stealing my breath away. My stomach fluttered and spun and did things it had never done before, not even the first time we had sex. And before I knew it, I was pulling his T-shirt over his raised arms and tossing it somewhere on the floor. He practically tore my shirt off me. We stood up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he carried me into his bedroom and threw me down on the bed.
    He didn’t wait even a minute before stripping off the rest of my clothes. And then his. I watched the muscles flex in his arms and in his chest as he crawled on top of me. He was so damn gorgeous to me, every muscle, every line, every curve in his sculpted, tanned body. His mouth hungry for mine, searching my breasts and my neck and the underside of my chin until he found my lips and kissed me ravenously. I speared my hands through his wavy, chin-length dark hair, and when I reached down and took his hard length into my hand he moaned against my mouth.
    “I want you inside me, Elias,” I said breathily against his mouth. “I’ve wanted this for so goddamn long.” This time it felt real. It felt
right
. It felt the way it should have felt our first time. And I wanted to savor it as if it were.
    His powerful hips rocked against mine before he reached down with me, and his strong fingers splayed around my hand as it held his cock firmly. He guided my hand, and I gasped and threw my head back against the pillow as I felt the head of his cock enter me. My eyelids fluttered and fell helplessly over my eyes. My lips parted and a sharp gasp escaped as he slid the rest of his length slowly into my wetness. I moaned with pleasure.
    “I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered hotly against my