Practice Makes Perfect

This one is for the softies.

The tenderhearted sweeties.

The introverts who are afraid to shine.

“Did I ever tell you why I never talked to you before that day in the alley?”

“No,” I say, feeling like I’m in a dream as I gaze up at Will bathed in the warm lights and smiling down at me like the secret to his happiness lives inside my bones.

“Because I knew once I did—it would be over for me. Some part of me has always known I would love you.”

He trails his finger languidly over my collarbones in no rush—because…we’ve got time. Forever.

I breathe in the smell of flowers and Will Griffin. My two favorite scents in the entire world. “I love you, too, Will.”

“Annie?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

Okay, but it’s adorable how embarrassed he looks all of a sudden. If there was a little rock in front of him, he’d kick it.

I touch my hand softly to his face with the wateriest smile I’ve ever had. “It makes sense. You’re a good teacher.”

“Yes. I bought a house, and I quit my job, and I’m not going to D.C., because I couldn’t. I didn’t want to anymore. I found roots in this incredibly frustrating town, and I don’t want to leave. I love it here. And I love you. And it sounds like a great new adventure to stay put somewhere—at least until we pick where to travel together first. Because I’m absolutely taking you all over the world.”

“But what I do want is to have a relationship with you—to go day by day and earn your trust while you earn mine, and we figure out who we are in this messy life together. If you’re up for it?”

I can’t keep from laughing as joy spills out of me. I step
up to Will and link my arms around his middle, angling my face up. The dark rim around his irises has never looked more dangerous. More compelling. More lovely.

“And then I called my brother, and as we talked, I realized that leaving this town without you was the scariest thought I’ve ever had. I need you in my life like I need air, Annie. You have wrecked me in the best way I could ever imagine, and I’ll never be the same. Never want to be the same.”