Lovewrecked - Karina Halle Page 0,97
with Tai,” I tell them, feeling myself flush. God, I’m such a dork. Why is admitting this out loud so hard for me?
“Huh,” Lacey muses, sitting back, tapping her spoon against her lips. “I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me at all.”
“Definitely isn’t a surprise to me,” Richard says, gesturing to us with his drink. “Just look at the two of you. It’s quite apparent you’re in love with each other. Even the goat knew that.”
The room feels like it comes to a screeching halt.
At least my heart feels that way.
Love?
Did Richard really just say that? I mean, I know how I feel but there’s no way in hell that Tai feels the same way, and now that bomb just dropped and everything is so awkward and my face is burning and—
“Damn right I’m in love with her,” Tai says, before having a sip of his beer.
Oh.
My god.
My mouth drops open.
Words fail to come out.
Heart feels like it’s grown too large for my chest, about to consume me whole.
He…what?
I swallow, staring at him.
He gives me a sly little grin. “What? You didn’t know that?”
My eyes bug out.
Is he kidding me right now?
I shake my head. “You…you love me?”
“Uh oh,” Lacey says, elbowing Richard as she gets up. “Richard, let’s step outside for some fresh air.”
“Nah, stay,” Tai says to them, motioning for her to sit. “I don’t care if the whole world knows it.” He turns in his seat to me, leans over, and cups my bewildered face in his warm, large hands. “Daisy Lewis, I am utterly, totally, madly in love with you.”
Oh my god.
I’m still in shock.
This is beyond anything I could have imagined. I feel like I’m not even here right now, and my body seems to pop and fizz with the kind of joy I’ve never felt before.
“You love me?” I ask again, my voice cracking.
“I do,” he says, leaning in to kiss me softly on the lips.
This man. This beautiful man.
He loves me.
Tears suddenly spring to my eyes and spill down my cheeks, making our kiss salty and sweet.
He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine, breathing hard, like all of this has his heart rate up. It sure has mine going.
“I’m sorry you first had to hear it in front of your sister and brother-in-law,” he says wryly. “I was planning on telling you tonight. Something a little more romantic.”
“Sorry,” Richard mutters.
“Don’t be,” I whisper to him, staring at Tai, feeling absolutely giddy. “It doesn’t matter how I hear it, so as long as it’s true.”
“It’s true, Gingersnap,” he says. “I knew you’d get under my skin the moment I saw you.”
“Did I ever,” I comment.
Lacey clears her throat loudly.
I pull back from Tai just enough to give her a look. “What?”
She jerks her chin at Tai. Raises her brows. “Shouldn’t you…you know?”
“Don’t pressure her,” Tai tells her. “I didn’t say it to hear it in return. I said it—
“Because I said it,” Richard says, sucking on his drink. He swallows. “But when I said it, I meant the both of you. You’d have to be a complete imbecile to not see that she loves you too.”
I laugh, putting my hand at the back of Tai’s neck. “He’s right, you know. You can be a complete imbecile.”
“Is that all he’s right about?” Tai asks, so sweet, so hopeful.
I burst into the biggest smile. “No. He’s right in that I love you. I love you and you’re an idiot for thinking otherwise.”
Tai’s face cracks open, more fucking beautiful than ever. The joy reaches his eyes.
“You mean that?” he asks.
“I really do,” I tell him. The words seem to flow out of me now. “I love you Tai Wakefield.”
He shakes his head subtly, as if in awe, his dark eyes searching mine. Looking for the truth.
Then he finds it.
And it’s real.
He kisses me again. A kiss that pulls me under, a kiss that lifts me up.
Eventually, I become fully aware that we’re making out in the bar and making everyone uncomfortable, so it’s no surprise that Lacey and Richard tell us they’ll see us later. After everyone settles up with the bill, Tai grabs my hand and takes me straight back to the hotel.
We barely make it inside the hotel room before we’re attacking each other like crazed animals, hands and mouths everywhere. I just really want that ugly tie-dye shirt off him, so I’m yanking it impatiently over his head and tossing it to the floor.
“That’s more like it,” I tell him, running my hands over