“I need you, Ryot.”

“I know, baby.”

I lift from his shoulder to look him in the eyes. He wipes the tears away, and from Nichole’s bed, where she’s been watching the entire thing, she says, “Can you kiss her, please? I’m dying over here.”

It’s a small moment of levity.

But just enough to tip the corner of my lips up as I lean my forehead against Ryot’s and move my nose along his. He lifts my chin, and my lips connect with his in a soul-searing kiss that steals my breath and fills me with a chance of hope.

His mouth parts, and so does mine as my grip on him grows tighter and my need even stronger than before. I don’t need him to give up his job for me, especially now that I understand where his idea for The Jock Report stemmed from. Me. His love for me, his desire to protect me. He never gave up protecting me. And he’s been showing me that for years. He’s shown me that I’m worth loving for years too. He signed the divorce papers because he thought that would make me happy. Who does that? This precious, loving, kind man.

I pull away and stare him in the eyes. “I appreciate you wanting to resign from The Jock Report, but I can’t let you do that.”

“And I can’t let you leave Nichole, so it looks like we need to figure something out.”

“Myla, can I please have a conversation with Ryot, alone?” Nichole asks from her bed.

“Why?” I ask.

“Because I said so,” Nichole says in such a mom voice that it makes me smile.

Turning back to Ryot, I smooth my hand up his chest to his cheek, where I cling to him. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“For what?” he says quietly.

“Everything,” I answer. “For doubting, for pushing you away, for acting like you weren’t worth trying for, even though you have shown me that I’m worth the effort.”

“Myla.” He dips his head to get a better look at me. “When I took my vows, I said that you would come first in my mind, always. And I broke that promise. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I need to thank you for the wake-up call, for the second chance, because I’m not sure I would have snapped out of it unless you did something drastic.” He presses a sweet kiss to my forehead. “You have nothing to apologize for. All I ask is that you keep giving me and us a chance. Keep loving me, and we’ll figure this out. Okay?”

I nod and then press my lips to his one more time before I stand from his lap. Just as I start to move away, Banner knocks on the door.

“Hey,” he says, looking shy and awkward in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, his hair completely disheveled. When his eyes travel over to Nichole, I notice the shock in them.