by Toni Aleo
He looked up at her. “That’s understood—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, it’s not.”
He seemed put off as he threw his hands up. “Fine, I love you.”
When laughter came from beside them, she finally looked to see Theo approaching. “Damn, thank God I never learned how to tell a woman I loved her from my big bro.”
“Theo, stop,” she warned, but he wasn’t listening. His gaze was on Montgomery’s.
“You don’t love her. You probably never did.”
“You don’t know shit, you piece of shit.”
Theo shrugged. “I don’t know, I feel you may be the POS, friend.”
“I’m not your friend,” Mont sneered, his eyes fiery as he shook his head. “You think she’s yours? No, she’s mine.”
“Ha, she was never yours. She was always mine.”
“Really? Who’s been fucking her for the last five years?”
“That’s all you’ve done. You haven’t loved her,” Theo said, not the least bit affected by his words. “If you loved her, you wouldn’t be speaking like that about her.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“I know a lot, friend, and I know she doesn’t love you.”
Montgomery’s face went red. “Get the hell out of here.”
Theo was untroubled as he looked back at Gen. “I’m good.”
Montgomery was shaking with anger as he glared. “I’d like to talk to my fiancée.”
Theo went to say something, but Gen stopped him. “I’m not your fiancée, Montgomery. That’s over.”
Theo’s head whipped to her as Montgomery said, “We don’t need to end this.”
“Yes, we do.” She could feel Theo burning a hole in the side of her head with his gaze, but she held Montgomery’s. “You hurt me. I won’t be with someone who doesn’t believe in me. Trust me. Or above all, really love me. We’ve been comfortable. It’s been easy between us for whatever reason, maybe just ignoring the things we don’t like about each other, but I refuse to live like that. I want to be in love with someone who sets my soul on fire, and I’m sorry, you don’t do that, Montgomery.”
Montgomery held her gaze, his eyes flashing with anger as he sneered, “But this guy does all that? I knew you weren’t over him—”
“He has nothing to do with this. I made this decision before I saw him.”
“So, that’s it?”
She nodded. “That’s it.”
“Did you even love me?”
Gen’s eyes filled with tears. “I think so. Did you?”
Looking away once more, Montgomery swallowed hard. “I did.”
“Then I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“So you broke it off with him?” Theo asked, and she turned, nodding her head.
“I did. I was gonna tell you today.”
A grin pulled at Theo’s mouth as he took a step toward her. “You should have told me sooner so I could have done this.” And before she knew it, he held her face in his hands as he gave her the kind of kiss that would make a porn star blush. Holding on to his wrists, she didn’t fight it. She wanted it. She knew it was awful and rude to do in front of Montgomery, but she couldn’t help it. She was a victim of pure lust when it came to Theo. When they parted, their noses knocking, her soul sang for him as he grinned down at her.
Pulling away, she went to apologize to Montgomery, but he was already walking away, and her heart sank. “You shouldn’t have done that in front of him.”
“Why?” Theo asked, holding her hips in his hands. “He had to know that you’ve been mine all this time.”
“Theo,” she said, looking up at him. “I did care for him. I may have even loved him at one time.”
He didn’t like that, but he shrugged just the same, holding her gaze. “In the past. Now, we have the future. Now, listen—”
But Gen shook her head. “No, I need to say something.”
“Let me get this out first,” he asked, a playful grin on his face. “Genevieve, I’ve loved you my whole adult life, and I never want to stop. I know we’ve had some time apart, I know we aren’t the same damn people we were then, but surely you feel what I feel. That undeniable pull between us. We’re meant for each other, darling, you and me. And I know you just came out of a relationship, but I need you. Just you. While, for a long time, I didn’t think I was good enough for you, and I still may not be, I want to try, Genny. I’ve learned a lot about life since the moment we were ripped apart, and I’m ready. I love you. Mercy me, I love you so damn much, I can’t stand it.”
She swallowed past the sob in her throat as she gazed up into his beautiful face. The face she had loved for as long as she could remember, the same face she’d missed more than her next breath. He was standing there. Ready.
But she wasn’t.
“I’m sorry—”
“No,” he moaned. “You don’t love me? Really, Genny?”
She held up her hand. “Can I finish?” He eyed her, taking a deep breath as he nodded. “Theo, I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready to jump back into something when I don’t even have my life together. I have to get my stuff, bring it here, and I just… I need time. I need time to figure out me, to fix whatever comes up, and to lick my wounds a bit. I mean, I was with him five years. That’s a long time.”
Letting her go, he looked away as he swallowed. “Can we not do all that together? I can help.”
“No, because if I come to you, I want to be whole. I want to be ready to be all in like you are right now.”
Moving his hand down his face, he smacked his lips as he nodded in understanding. “All right. What can I help with?”
She shook her head. “I have to do it myself.”
He cleared his throat, and she could see the tears in his eyes. Silence fell between them, and she could feel the people watching them. They weren’t close, but they sure did want to know what was happening. When Theo looked back at her, he swallowed hard. “I can help move things, just call me. You have my number. It’s the Blu’s number.”
“Okay.”
“And you can stay as long as you need, until you get to wherever you’re going. Or if you want to stay with me, you’re welcome.”
She reached out, taking his hand in hers. “I’m gonna rent Randy’s old place.”
He nodded. “All right, then.” She squeezed his hand, and he looked down at her. “This blows.”
She smiled. “It’s for the best.”
“Because I do love you, Genevieve. I do.”
“And I love you, Theo,” she whispered. “But I don’t like who I am at this moment in time.”
He looked away once more. “When will you?”
She shrugged. “A year? I don’t know.”
Inhaling hard, he let it out slowly and nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“There?”
“In a year, with a ring.”
“Theo,” she said, shaking her head.
But he didn’t answer. Instead, he took her mouth with his and kissed her long and hard. She drank from him in the most succulent way that had her toes curling in her flip-flops. When he pulled away, he kissed her nose and then the side of her mouth. “I’ll see you around, and if you need anything, you know my number.”
“I do.”
“Are you good getting home? I’m going to the bar. I got a date with a bottle of McElroy.”
She smiled as she nodded. “I’m fine. I’m gonna go for a walk.”
“Cool, I’ll see ya.”
“See ya.”
He kissed her nose one last time and then walked away. As Gen watched him, she almost called him back, she did. They’d had so much time apart that she didn’t want any more, but she knew this was for the best.
Not only for him, but for her too.
Epilogue
“So, what are you working on?”
Gen looked over to where Delaney was lying across her couch, playing with her hair. When Gen had mov
ed in to Randy’s little cabin, it was already adorable, but it was still him, it wasn’t Gen. Now, it was Gen. The room was bright, no curtains, and beautiful light blue paint on the walls. She had no furniture from when she moved out of Montgomery’s; he had kept everything with good reason. So when she went shopping, she knew she wouldn’t need much since the cabin was so small. But it was perfect for her and even had enough room for when her parents came to stay, which had been a lot in the last year. They loved Spring Grove as much as she did.
Glancing back at her best friend, she smiled. “I’m finishing up Travis and Ashley’s novella.”
“Which means?”
“Basically, about their lives two years later.”
“Oh, are they married?”
Gen beamed. “Yes, with beautiful babies and lots of great butt sex, things are good for Travis and Ashley.”
“Yeah, they’re getting more action than we are,” Delaney said sadly. “I’m jealous of fictional characters. That’s pathetic.”
Gen giggled as she wrote The End before closing her laptop. “Sometimes I’m jealous of them too.”
“Why? All you have to do is snap your fingers, and Theo would drop diamonds all over you while doing you. I hate you.”
Gen rolled her eyes. “He would not.”
“He’s here all the time, helping you with things.”
“Because he’s a good guy.”
“He’s still head over heels for you, and if you got your head out of your ass, you’d notice that this year meant nothing but time for y’all to hang out.”
Gen looked away, drawing in a deep breath. She wanted to say it had been easy being around Theo and not kissing him or touching him, but it hadn’t. Though they got along perfectly and enjoyed hanging with their friends, she missed him. He was respecting her space, and she appreciated it. She needed that because with each passing day, she was slowly finding herself, finding who she was. She realized a lot of that had to do with the town. She loved it, she loved the people, but most of all, she still loved Theo. So damn much. But the problem was, now she was worried she didn’t deserve him.
“I don’t know. I let him down pretty rough.”
“So? He’s been through worse—hello, jail—and he made it through that because he knew one day you’d come back to him.”
Gen eyed Delaney. “Are you his spokesgirl?”
“Damn right,” she said with a wink. “You know I’m Team Theo.”
“I’m aware.”
“And you can’t deny he’s as hot as the summer is long,” she said, tipping her chin toward Gen. She wasn’t sure what Delaney was doing until she heard movement behind her. When Gen turned in her seat, Theo was out front with the tools to finish the patio. He was replacing the bricks because Gen had fallen and broken her ankle a couple of days ago. He was absolutely nothing like his brother. Unlike Theo, who she knew hadn’t dated this whole year, Montgomery had married his assistant…six months after Gen had called it off. She had to assume he had been cheating, but she knew, either way, the truth would drive her insane. So instead, she drowned herself in work and wrote three books that year.
That was, when she wasn’t distracted by Theo.
Which was a lot since she found he was always wherever she was.
With the same fluttery feeling that had met her every single time she saw him, she breathed, “He’s here early.”
Delaney just smiled. “Because he knows you’re here.”
“Del.”
“Gen.” She shot her a sneaky grin and then shook her head. “He’s always here, just waiting.”
“I know,” she said as an exhale.
“I know you’re lonely. Especially in this little cabin all by yourself.”
“I am,” she admitted, watching until he looked up, waving. She waved back as Delaney came up beside her.
“And you’re ready.”
“I am?”
“Oh yeah, I know you are,” Delaney said before kissing the top of Gen’s head. “I’m gonna get out of here. Mawmaw needs help with some honeybee thing, I don’t know. Call me if you sleep with him.”
“Why would I do that?”
“So I can live vicariously through you.”
Gen rolled her eyes as she laughed. “See ya.”
“Bye, girl.”
When the door shut, Gen turned in her seat to watch as Theo knocked the old bricks out. Standing, she winced as she limped to the door, pushing it open. “You’re early.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be off that ankle.”
“It’s been almost a week. I’m fine.”
“You aren’t,” he said, coming toward her so that she would sit back down. “If you want to bother me, I’ll come in here and get a beer. You’ve got beer, right?”
She wrinkled her nose at him as he cut to her fridge, grabbing a beer. He held one out to her, but she shook her head. “That’s how I fell.”
“Can’t handle your beer?” he teased, and she laughed.
“McElroy’s whiskey.”
“Yeah, why are you still playing with that stuff?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes, I think I can handle it.”
He sat down across from her. “You can’t.”
She nodded as she held out her ankle. “I can’t.”
Taking her ankle softly, he laid it over his leg, and tingles ran up her legs from his mere touch. “Aren’t you supposed to keep this thing elevated? Damn, this cast is heavy.”
“It is,” she laughed, and he smiled over at her. “How was your day?”
“Long,” he said before taking a pull of his beer. “If I didn’t have enough going on at the Blu, I had Holden needing help up at the distillery.”
“You working for free?”
He shot her a dry look. “No, I get a cut of Holden’s pay.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, but I’m whupped.”
“Go on home. The patio can wait.”
“Nah, I’m good,” he said, letting out a long breath. “What did you do today? Finish Travis and Ashley? Everyone live happily ever? Matt good?”
She smiled. “They are. Lots of butt sex too.”
“Good, Travis likes it.”
Gen giggled. “He does.”
He exhaled and then looked over at her. “You look good today.”
“Hush, I’m a mess, and shit, Delaney forgot to help me with my shower. Ugh, I’ll have to wait till tomorrow. Something about honeybees.” When Theo waggled his brows, she rolled her eyes. “I haven’t shaved anything in over a week, you aren’t seeing me naked.”
“I like rugged. See my beard.”
“You’re crazy. Hush.”
He laughed as he moved his hand down her shin to her knee, rubbing it gently as her eyes drifted shut. Soon a stillness fell between them. The sounds of the lake filled the room since the patio door was open. A group of kids was having a blast, and Gen wanted so badly to go out there. But at the same time, she was in great company. “Hey.”
She opened her eyes. “Hey.”
“You have a date for the Fourth thing?”
Her brows pulled together. “You asking to be my help that night?”
He scoffed. “Actually, I wanted to be your date.”
“Which means you’ll be my helper since I don’t walk well.”
“Are you saying yes?”
“I am,” she teased, and he beamed back at her. His eyes were playful, but there was a bit of lust swirling deep in those blue depths. She wasn’t sure why, but she said, “I’m surprised you’re asking.”
“Are ya?”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Well, I mean, I didn’t think you’d want to. I don’t know.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to?”
“I don’t know,” she laughed, waving him off. “I just thought—”
“Well, it’s been a year.”
“It has.”
“And you know I said in a year I’d be here—with a ring.�
�
Her head fell to the side. “You did say that.”
“And it’s been exactly a year since you broke my heart in the middle of the square.”
“I didn’t break your—” She went to protest, but she was stunned to silence when he leaned to the left and dug into his pocket. When he set a box on the table, her eyes widened. “Really?”
He was smiling before his gaze met hers. “A year ago, I told you I’d love you until my dying day. I wasn’t lying, Gen. I love you. I loved you then, I loved you in between, and I’ll love you for the rest of my days. This stupid long year that you’ve put me through only made me love you more.”
“Theo—”
“You needed help moving in, I was here. I made sure to know exactly where you were gonna be, just so I could be there too. All those dinners where I invited everyone, it was so I knew you’d come. Just so I could see you. Be with you. I’ve been patient, I’ve respected your space because I wanted you to be ready for me. Genny, fuck, I love you. So fucking much.”
Emotion clogged her throat as she watched him struggle, though a grin stayed on his lips. “I’ll never ever love anyone like you, nor do I want to. I know we haven’t dated—hell, I don’t even think that dinner on the lake could be called a date. But in a way, I don’t want to date you, I want to live my life with you. I want to be yours. Only yours. And for that to happen, I need you to take this ring, put it on, and say yes to being my other half. Being right where you belong.” Gen was pretty sure her heart had just stopped dead in her chest as he gazed deep into her eyes. “You could say no, and that still wouldn’t derail me from coming back in another year and trying again because, darling, you’re it. You’re my darling, my everything. Say yes to me.”
Leaning on the table, she reached for the box, opening it to see a sweet little ring, a diamond that didn’t even come close to what Montgomery had given her way back when. But what Montgomery’s ring didn’t have that Theo’s did was the promise that he would love her for the rest of his days just like he said. And Theo would always make sure she knew that. She’d never question him. Never have to wonder because he’d tell her.
She looked up, and a grin pulled at her lips as she slowly slid the ring on before reaching across the table and taking his hand in hers.
“You told me a long time ago that you weren’t the one for me.”
