Breaking Bro Code (The Line Up #4) - Misti Murphy Page 0,97
to turn around. Hop back on a plane and fly home. Wait for him in his apartment until he comes back. At least I’d be surrounded by him. His scent. Our memories. I need to tell him that I understand why it was so hard for him to let down his walls.
I called him when the plane landed, but it went straight to voicemail. My texts haven’t registered a read receipt in days. So I head for the exit along with a huddle of business executives, a young couple who can’t keep their hands off each other, a mother with a baby sleeping on her chest and a toddler in a stroller, and a heap of other people.
I pull out my phone to call Hud. To tell him I’ve arrived safely at LAX. To ask him why Vale left me another letter instead of being there last night. He gave me the letter. He has to know.
Up ahead a sign catches my eye. My name is scrawled across it.
My heart stops as I gaze into Vale’s blue eyes. Take in the nervous smile on his face.
I stumble to a stop.
Someone bumps into me as they’re forced to change trajectory to move around me. The impact knocks me two steps forward.
My heart resumes its beat as time catches up with us. I’m sniffling again as I run toward Vale. One of my suitcases falls and I abandon them both.
His smile broadens and he holds his arms out wide.
I jump into his arms and he catches me with those big, strong hands I’ve missed so much. I wind my legs around his hips and cling to him.
“Lily.” He breathes my name like it’s a prayer.
“What are you doing here?” I’m breathless with the shock of seeing him.
“I live here,” he says.
“What?” I wipe the wetness from my nose with the back of my hand.
“I live in L.A.” His forehead is pressed against mine. His smile breaks like a perfect summer day.
“No.” He can’t move here for me. I press my lips against his. Taste my salty tears along with him. I don’t know how I survived without touching him. The last time we were together feels like an eon ago. “You live in Chicago. I can’t ask you to move here for me. Your family. I understand how hard it is for you to be here. I’m going to tell Carlan—”
“Shh, pretty girl.” He’s still smiling at me. “You’ll do no such thing.”
“But you can’t move here.”
“It’s already done,” he says. “I knew you’d be willing to postpone your dreams for me, and I couldn’t let that happen. You have big things to accomplish and I can’t be the guy that holds you back. I love you and want to be in your life. So I moved.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, Lil. You’re so important to me. I’m willing to fight to be with you. Whatever it takes. Even if that means I have to face my ghosts and talk to my family.”
I gasp. “Arwen called me.”
He chuckles. “You have no idea how much she wanted to be here to meet you. She was ready to come to the airport with me. To make sure I didn’t screw us up again. I had to convince her that I really needed it to be just you and me.”
“She sounds nice.”
“She is.” He strokes his hands over my hair. “She helped me find an apartment. There’s a nut-free bakery too, on your route to work. A deli a couple of blocks in the other direction.”
“Thoughtful,” I say.
“I wanted to make living with me as enticing as possible.”
“Living with you?” I gape.
“Yes, Lil. I want you to move in with me. As soon as you’re ready. You told me once that you’d waited half your life for me to catch up.” His eyes glitter with emotion. “It took me a while, didn’t it? But I’m all caught up now. I don’t want to wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“You’re going to make me cry.” My pitch is squeaky. I flap my hand in front of my face and try to keep my shit together.
“Say you’ll move in with me, Lil.”
“I love you.” I sob and giggle and nod at the same time. My chest is full to bursting.
“I love you too, but that’s not an answer.”
“Yes,” I shout.
“Yes?” The way he stares at me makes my heart beat faster. He buries his hands in my hair. “The girl says yes.”