Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“I think so,” I say, and she shakes her head.
“Yeah, no one really thought this through. We all just wanted to be a family.”
“And titles are nothing. Y’all are a family.”
Her lips tip up. “I love when you say ‘y’all.’ It’s all country cute.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s my mom’s fault. She gave me this twang.”
“I dig it,” she compliments, rubbing my jaw.
“Well, I dig you.”
Her lips curve into the brightest, widest grin. “I’d hope so, or this morning was for nothing.”
“It was most certainly not for nothing. It was for everything. For us.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she says, leaning into my shoulder. “Nico will come around.”
“I hope so,” I say softly, looking out at the ocean. “Because if he’s given the chance to walk you down the aisle, he won’t give you to me.”
She giggles against my chest. “It’s fine. I’ll outrun him.”
I press my smile into her hair, kissing it as I close my eyes. “And you’re sure you’re okay with how everything played out?”
“Evan, it played out the way it was supposed to.” Her voice is full of such assurance and certainty. I appreciate it, need it, really. “Everything is good. We’re good. Aviva, Nico, and Vance are good. It’s all good. I promise.”
“Okay,” I say, trying to shake the weight of guilt that is trying to crush me. I know, deep down, she’s right, but I still worry that it’s all going to blow up in our faces. I fear she’ll regret us one day. That maybe I’m not enough, that I’m trash like Nico says. A broken man who is only that. Broken.
But once more, my brother, my dad, and Callie are reminding me that’s not true.
And I’m so thankful for that reminder.
“I love you, Evan. I do,” she says, pulling me away from my thoughts.
She leans her head back, and I kiss her lips softly before I whisper, “I love you.”
She lifts her lips up to mine, kissing me with such need that my heart pounds in my chest. This girl is just incredible. I don’t know how I got so lucky to find her, but I’d be an idiot to let her go.
As our lips part, our eyes open and meet. “Can I sing something for you?”
Her eyes widen. “‘Come What May’? I’m not singing the girl part, but you can sing the guy part to me.”
A grin grows as I shake my head. “That’s Shelli and Aiden’s song.”
“So? They don’t own it, do they?”
I laugh. “No, but I found a better song for us.”
She makes a face. “But I love hearing you sing that song. I want you to sing it to me.”
“Callie,” I say, holding her gaze, “I already did.”
“Huh?”
“That day, I was singing to you.”
“Really?”
“Truly, I was. Hell, every song I sing or play has been for you.”
“Even ‘Old McDonald’?”
God, she is a dork. My dork. “Totally. We were the pair of ducks, going quack, quack, here and there,” I joke, and she giggles loudly as she leans into me.
Her lips curve as she wiggles in my lap. “Okay, I am super stoked right now. So, yeah. Proceed with the song you have prepared.”
I chuckle as I bring the guitar to my lap. She leans her face into my neck, and I close my eyes as I begin to strum the chords to Isak Danielson’s “Always.” When I start to sing, I feel her smile against my neck, and my heart soars. When I heard this song, I knew it was written for us. For all the possibilities our future holds. The highs and the lows, I want them all—as long as they include Callie and everything she brings to the table.
Her love, her drive, and her kindness. I want it all. I want her.
As I finish, telling her all the things I want to say through the song, I close my eyes once more while I lean into her. My fingers stop strumming, and the crashing of the waves replaces the sounds surrounding us. I’m lost in our love.
“That was beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you,” I declare, laying the guitar down and wrapping my arms around her so she is as close as I can get her. “I heard it and knew I had to play it for you.”
“I still think ‘Come What May’ is our song.”
I chuckle against her hair. “Fine,” I say, and then I sing the chorus softly into her ear. She leans into me, her lashes kissing her cheek, and I can’t get enough of her. When I finish, I say, “Don’t tell Shelli.”
“I’m getting a shirt made,” she jokes, and I laugh as I gather her even closer. I wish we could just become one.
“You’re a pain in my ass.”
“I am.” She kisses my jaw, and then against my skin, she whispers, “Evan.”
“Yeah?” I ask as she brings her hand up, cupping the back of my neck.