Page 104 of A Forever Love
“Maybe you don’t remember, but I asked you once about your favorite flower,” I say softly. “And you said that boys don’t have favorite flowers, but if you had to pick, you’d choose a lily for your mom.”
“I remember,” Carter replies. “We were standing outside the ice-cream parlor. A new florist shop had just opened right next door.”
I smile for the first time since we started this conversation. “I don’t even know when all my likes and dislikes started revolving around you. Nothing was deliberate, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.”
His hand tightens around my wrist, and he brings it closer to his lips, kissing the colorful flower gently.
“Since I’m sharing everything, I have one last confession. This”—my hands rest over his—“is not just because I love the flower. But I thought I was somehow responsible for Lily’s death,” I whisper.
Shock registers on Carter’s face, his eyes darkening with disbelief.
“I know now that it was stupid of me, but for a long time, I thought I transferred some of my curse to you when I acknowledged my feelings for you out loud that night.”
“God, mittens, you’re killing me right now.” He pulls me to his chest, and his lips are near my ear when he whispers, “You are not a curse, Mere. You were my magic charm. The moment you left me, everything fell apart and nothing remained the same.”
27
MERIDA
Carter’s lips press against my forehead, and I feel a shudder run through him.
My heart is so full right now—more than it ever has been.
I am his magic charm.
“You’re definitely something out of this world,” he says. “How will I ever convince anyone that I’m good for you when I don’t even believe it myself?”
“But all I’ve ever wanted is you.”
“Don’t say things like that, mittens. I’m already burning in this fire of guilt. You suffered because of me, and I had no freaking idea.”
“I didn’t suffer because of you. I suffered because of my own heart. I didn’t know how to handle all these feelings, and I think I should have talked to someone sooner.”
“There’s nothing you can say that’ll change how I feel right now, Mere. You missed your home and so much because of me.”
My hands hold his face, the pricks of his five o’clock shadow digging into my skin. “I’m not saying this to make you feel any better. But my heart has never been more at peace than it is right now.”
Seconds roll into minutes and minutes into an hour as we sit by the fire pit. I’m leaning against Carter’s chest, feeling a mix of anxiety and guilt radiating from him. Like he said, I can’t change how he feels right now. He’s responding to my trapped emotions of four years, after all.
There’s a slight knock on the patio door, and a server peeks inside. “I just wanted to check if you need anything, sir.”
Carter’s gaze remains anxious, but I whisper, “I’ve waited all my life for my first official date with you, King. Don’t go around ruining it.”
* * *
I wake up to the sweet smell of baking in my apartment. For a moment, I think it might be a lingering dream, until I realize I wasn’t dreaming about cakes at all. No, I was dreaming about fall. After experiencing one of the best dates of my life, I can’t wait for a repeat of such an event.
Miss Sparkles waltzes into the room and stops right at the threshold. She lets out a meow before turning her head toward the door, her pointed ears on alert as she looks between me and the doorway, urging me to check what’s going on in my kitchen.
My fingers graze the empty bed next to me. It’s cold. Carter must have been up for some time now.
Something clatters in the kitchen, breaking my drowsy attention once more.
Miss Sparkles meows loudly once again, as if whatever is going on is threatening her existence in this apartment.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. Give your kitty throat some rest.” I slip out of the covers, clad only in my fuzzy socks with smilies on the ankles. Skipping the underwear, I hastily pull on my white-and-blue unicorn shorts and a matching tee.
Stepping into the living room, my feet get stuck. “What the sweet heck is all this?”