“What are you doing here?” I asked when we broke free.

“Getting the girl,” he said, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

His words nearly caused my heart to explode.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” I said, brushing my fingertips along his jawline.

“Well,” he said, squeezing his arm even tighter around my waist, “it was brought to my attention that you might be in love with me, and I thought it would be a shame to let you get on this flight without telling you that I’m in love with you too.”

“Y-you are?” I blinked the tears from my eyes.

“Very much.” His dark eyes searched mine.

I kissed him again, still not believing this was real life. Maybe Mattie had been right all along. Life could be a fairy tale, and this was mine.

When we finally parted, he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

“What?” My forehead crinkled.

“Don’t you have something to say to me?” he probed.

Thoughts whizzed through my mind. I had about a million things I wanted to say to him, but where to start?

He gave a dramatic sigh. “I know that you told Mattie you were in love with me and all. And, of course, she told me. But—now this is just me personally— I think it would mean a hell of a lot more coming from your mouth. You know what I mean?”

I giggled, my cheeks tight from smiling. “I love you, Oliver.”

“Ugh,” he groaned, dipping his head to kiss me again. “That sounds so fucking good coming out of your mouth.”

“I wanted to tell you, but I thought I was being selfish,” I admitted.

“Never hold back from me again, okay?” he said, forcing a stern voice that didn’t sound at all natural coming from his lips. “That was my thing, and you broke me of it. No more secrets, got it?”

“Got it.” I nodded.

His arms were the only thing keeping me tethered to the ground.

He took a piece of my hair and tangled it in his fingers. “I’m sorry I let you go. I thought that I couldn’t be the kind of guy you need, but I realized, the kind of guy you need is someone who’s going to show up. Someone who will put you first. I thought I didn’t have it in me, but you made me realize that I do. I don’t care if it’s New York or the middle of fucking nowhere. I want to be around you always. Adventure will come no matter what, but it’s not going to be worth living if you aren’t there.”

His words were even more than I had been hoping to hear. He was thinking about coming with me to New York? Even though I had already mentally turned away from that path, just the fact that he was willing to follow me there meant the world.

“I’m not going to New York,” I said, smiling.

His eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”