When I turn the corner, I see my truck with its tailgate down and the bed decorated in Christmas lights. When I stop to take it all in, Amelia grabs my hand and leads me the rest of the way.
“What’s going on?” I ask, trying not to get my hopes up, trying to steady my rapidly beating heart.
“Mind giving me a lift?” she asks, pointing to the tailgate of my truck. Not giving it a second thought, I lift her up on the tailgate, and when she pats the spot next to her, I take a seat as well.
Reaching behind her, Amelia pulls up a box of Nirchi’s pizza. She hands it to me, a huge smile on her face and says, “Open it.”
Thoroughly confused, unsure if something startling is going to pop out of the box, I carefully open it up. When I see what’s inside, I almost break down.
Staring back at me, written in Buffalo chicken pieces are the words, I love you.
I stare at the pizza for what seems like forever, trying to figure out if I’m dreaming, but when Amelia takes the box away from me and cups my face, forcing me to look at her, I know this isn’t a dream.
“I’m so in love with you, Aaron, desperately in love with you. I’m so sorry you thought otherwise.”
A smile breaks through my lips, total elation coursing through me as she presses her lips against mine. I reciprocate the kiss, taking in this moment, a moment I never thought I’d have again.
When she pulls away, she brushes away a single tear that falls down my face.
I clear my throat. “I don’t understand.”
She holds my gaze. “I get you, Aaron. You might not communicate the way I wish you did, and you might make decisions for the both of us that I don’t agree with, but I understand where it’s coming from.” She presses her palm against my chest. “You have a beautiful heart, a beautiful soul, and you show it every day to me. Some days I might be blind to it, like I was the other day, but that doesn’t mean I won’t recognize it over time. You might not see your worth, but I see it, and you are everything to me.”
She grips my head again and speaks with firm passion. “Everything, Aaron. And no matter how many times you try to push me away because you think it’s what’s best for me, I will always come back, because what you need to understand is what’s best for me is you.” She presses another kiss against my lips. “You’re my once in a lifetime, and I’m not letting you go. So push all you want, run away, try to send me in a different direction; from now on, it’s not going to work. I’m yours and you’re mine, and it’s time you realize that. You’re my forever, Aaron.”
Fuck.
Warmth, the warmth of Amelia and her love, spreads through my veins, igniting me, awakening a part of me that’s been dead for quite some time. Needing to be closer to her, I pull her onto my lap so she’s straddling me. I hold on to her hips and rest my forehead against hers.
“I love you so much, Amelia.” I kiss her lips. “Don’t let me push you anymore. I want you to follow me, even into the dark parts of my life.”
“I will, always, Aaron.” She presses a kiss against my lips. “Always.”
“I didn’t purposely lie to you about knowing who Trey was, Amelia. At first I was so shocked, but I didn’t want who he was to me to influence you. I stepped back, hoping you would see me as the man for you.”
“I know that now. It makes sense. And I did. You are the man for me.” Thank fuck.
“Trey knows?”
“Yes. I talked to him before he drove back to the city. I think he regrets punching you.”
I nod. “He wrote me an email.”
“I didn’t explain everything to him about us, because I decided it wasn’t because of us that I broke up with him. I didn’t mourn his loss when I left him on my birthday. I mourned the breakdown of the relationship, of my visions of him and me in Binghamton. But I had already felt that we had pulled away from each other. I didn’t tell you why we broke up, but he taken a promotion in the city and bought an apartment for us—”
“But your dad . . .”
“Exactly. Anyway, his decisions were the icing on the cake to some extent. As I walked up the stairs to our shared apartment on Thanksgiving, I knew I was no longer home. I told him that, too. It wasn’t only his actions that broke us. My heart had already left. Binghamton is home. You are home, Aaron. And you reminded me of that when you cared for me so lovingly on my birthday and the week afterward. I didn’t need your love to make me whole, but it made me whole anyway,” I said, barely holding back more tears. Happy tears this time.
“It’s you, Amelia. I’ll never stop loving you, but I may fuck up occasionally.”
“Yeah, you might. But so might I. But you need to talk to me, no matter how scared you are, you need to talk to me. I’m not going anywhere; I’m here to stay, just know that. Whatever you may be going through, I will forever hold you tightly. Okay?” I nod, understanding everything she’s trying to convey. With a gruff voice, I say, “I’m a bit of a broken man, baby.”
“Good thing I’m the perfect match to put you back together.”
And if that isn’t the God’s honest truth. I’ve never needed anyone more than I need Amelia in my life.
We hold each other in the barely lit space of my truck bed, the faint sound of the musical playing in the background. The only thing keeping us warm is each other’s arms. That, and the promise of a future together.
“Nirchi’s pizza, huh?”
She shrugs, placing a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Seems fitting. I know you can’t turn down a girl with a passion for Buffalo chicken pizza.”
“No chance in hell. I’d be a fool to.”
“Good thing you’re a smart man, then.”
Her lips find mine again and I sink into her kiss, letting her love pour over me.
When you first meet someone, it’s exciting, thrilling, that first chance is a gift bestowed upon you. And when your heart is taken away from you, when you think everything you ever wanted is taken away, sometimes you get a second chance. That second chance is pure luck. It doesn’t happen for everyone, only a select few. But that third chance, the one where you think there is no way you’ll ever be able to hold her heart in your hands again? When it happens, when that third chance is placed in front of you, it means one thing and one thing only.
You were meant to be.
Despite the roadblocks, the heartache, the stumbles and falls, the universe tells you something important: you’re meant to be together. Third chances are the rarest of them all, which makes them the most important to treasure.
Amelia is mine . . . forever.
EPILOGUE
AARON
“What the hell are you doing in there?”
The bathroom door opens and Amelia strides into the living room wearing a red flannel pajama set, her hair tied up into a bun. Her face looks fresh . . . freshly fucked.
“Don’t rush me,” she responds with a smirk before she sits between my legs and rests her back against my chest. “I wanted to make sure I looked somewhat presentable. I plan on taking pictures, you know.”