Tentatively, he reaches for my face and caresses my cheek. The roughness of the pad of his thumb scrapes as it rolls over my skin. I’ll take the pain, the marks, the scars if it gets me to the truth. Those will heal. I’m not so sure about my heart.
Catching a tear that I didn’t know had fallen, he wipes it away as if he can’t bear it. “We’re together in this. Whatever this is or will be, I want you, Story. I want everything we are together because I’m so fucking in love with you.”
“How do you know in such a short time?”
“Because I’m going out of my mind trying to figure out how to deal with my feelings.”
“How did you used to handle them?”
“Used to?” he asks, shaking his head. “I’ve never felt like this before. Do you not feel how my heart beats for you? Do you not see how I can’t stop looking at you? Amazed you’re mine?” He cradles my face in his hands and runs his nose along mine. With his lips pressed to the corner of my mouth, he whispers, “I don’t deserve you, but my soul is tied to yours. You’re my savior, and I’m your curse. This is what we are together. Each other’s destiny.”
My breath is knocked from my lungs as his admission becomes a prayer on his tongue. I kiss him. Selfishly, I kiss him for me. And then I kiss him to take away the pain that’s filled his breath and body.
He’s right about our hearts aligning and our purpose changing. I wasn’t living before him. I was waiting.
We were either brought together or found each other. I’m not sure if it’s the former or the latter, but he feels right in every way to me. So I won’t argue against our fate when time doesn’t matter when we’re together. Two weeks. Two months. Two years. Two lifetimes. With him, it’s easy to believe that we have time on our side without the threat of fate intervening.
I’ll stick with destiny.
If he’s willing to fight for me, I’ll let him and come back twice as strong to fight for him.
I kiss him again because it’s not just my body craving the bond this time. It’s also my soul. Cooper Haywood was mine before I knew he existed.
That’s how souls work. They find each other in every lifetime.
But when he pulls back, his eyes fall closed as his head drops. “I gave up my inheritance.”
“What? What are you talking about? Look at me,” I say, my heart pounding, my chest aching for him. “Look at me, Cooper.”
When he does, there are no tears to be shed. Instead, rejection fills his features, a shame that shouldn’t be there. Failure rounds his shoulders and has them caving forward. He lifts his eyes to meet mine. “I didn’t expect it. I swear. I’d signed it away years ago just to piss off my parents. But then they came around.” He stands and begins to pace. “I could be good.”
“What do you mean you could be good?”
“I’d done everything prior.” He stops in front of the large picture window where a different view of the city is framed from the balcony where we stood earlier. Laughter rumbles under his breath as he runs his hand through his hair. “I was so fucking self-destructive. Classic Psychology 101 case. Doing anything to get Mommy and Daddy’s attention. When I had it, I tried to forget who I was, and then when that didn’t happen, I wanted to disappear again.”
Turning his back to me, he aims his focus out the window and keeps his voice low. “I used to go to bad neighborhoods and pick fights. I wanted to feel good about myself, powerful, to try to control something in my life. My friends were there with me. But it’s a joke that we’re all in college like we weren’t left for dead a few times.”
He looks back at me over his shoulder. “You fought to survive while I was fighting to die.”
It’s hard to swallow as I decipher between the man I know and the guy he speaks of. “I don’t understand.”
“I know, but one day, you’ll see me for who I am. Our souls won’t matter. We’ll have to try again in the next lifetime.”
I stand and go to him. “I’m not a scared little girl. I’ve been through hell. I’ll go back if I can pull you from its bowels.” Wrapping my arms around him, I lean against him, listening to his beating heart. It’s as strong as he is.
The angst calms, and his arm comes around me. He kisses my head. I say, “Good thing I didn’t fall for you because of your money.”
He balks, then starts laughing. When he looks down at me, I say, “Richer or poorer—with lifetimes behind us, I’m sure we’ve said those vows before.”
Taking my hand, he kisses my knuckles. “For better or worse.”
I don’t say the next lines because in this life or the next, death will always divide us. And I’ve never felt this strongly for anyone, so I can’t handle those consequences.
But after seeing the pain of what his family is doing to him, their need for him to be what they want instead of who he is with me, I must be the bigger person in this scenario. Bringing his hand to my mouth, I kiss it, closing my eyes and savoring the feel of him against my lips.
The city comes to life as the countdown ends. He checks his watch and then looks at me like he wants me to decide. “I choose you always, Cooper Haywood.”
We kiss, our mouths coming together on the stroke of midnight. “Happy New Year, Story Salenger.”
It’s then that I believe it. “Us against them.”
We kiss again as fireworks shoot in the distance.
We might not always have explosions to celebrate our time together, but we’ll always have this kiss to launch our future.
Our love will keep us strong, but with so much left for him to reconcile, I make him a promise that I’ll keep forever. “I will never pit you against your parents. An ultimatum of you having to choose between your family or me will never be put into the universe. So you do what you need to feel whole, Cooper, and I’ll be waiting.”
27
Story
Three months later . . .
* * *
“I love silver, but I’m still confused why you got a brand-new car in March.”
“Because it was a Christmas gift, and it takes time to build. It’s customized to my order.” Cooper’s arm is extended across the top of the passenger seat as we talk through the open window. “And how my other one wasn’t just green; this one is not just silver. It’s Indus Silver.”
If I stare at him long enough, I’m hoping this will make sense. “Okay.” I’m still lost how parents who seemingly hate their kid go out and spend whatever this car costs on them. And more importantly, why did he take it?
He revs the engine enough to cause me to look back at the coffee shop in embarrassment. Lila gives me two thumbs-up in approval. I just roll my eyes. Leaning over the passenger’s seat, he pops the door open. “C’mon, get in.”
Guess I need to, or everyone on the block will soon be staring. I slip into the car and buckle up. Inside the luxurious dark interior, I finally let him enjoy his present. “It is a very pretty car.”
Eyeing the front through the windshield, I ask, “No leaping jaguar on the front?”
“I had that installed aftermarket. This time, since it’s the sports car . . .” He beams as he shifts into gear. “The Jaguar F-type luxury sports car, to be exact. I’m going with the sleek design of the hood.”
I laugh. His excitement, the joy that he’s found in this car, is contagious. “Okay. Okay. Let’s just get going.”
“I need gas. Do you mind if we detour to the station?”
“Nope, as long as you treat me to a hot dog and a thirty-two ouncer.” I used to be weirded out about him spending money on me, but after three months into our relationship, I know he truly doesn’t mind. He enjoys doing it, and I win. So sometimes he treats me.
Chuckling, he replies, “Deal.”
Gas stations aren’t on every corner in Atterton. We have to drive to the outskirts, which he loves as he massages the steering wheel in appreciation. I don’t mind because it gives me a few extra minutes to talk without the distraction of a show or movie, or other people being around.
“How was class?” I ask.
“I have a paper due for a mid-term grade in advanced psychology.”