Page 111 of Lightning Angel
“Still, not as beautiful as you are,” Tristan murmured into her hair.
“You flatter me.” She grinned.
“If you call honesty a flattery, do you call dishonesty a compliment, too?” He sighed, but she sensed a smile in his voice.
“That depends.” Her grin widened.
He sighed again. “You’re impossible.”
“Oh, Tristan, Tristan, Tristan.”
Tristan snuggled her close. “Yes, my love?”
Alexa tilted her head ever so slightly so their cheeks touched. “I feelelatedthat I got to help fulfill your dream.”
“This one?” he asked and continued without her answer. “You fulfill my dream every day, Alexandra, because you’re by my side in every one of them.”
What did she ever do to deserve him?
He was everything she had dreamed about but didn’t dare hope for. Now that she had him, was she allowed to hope for a future she had dreaded with every ounce of her being? Would this beautiful relationship lead them into something big or would it wither away?
Horror gripped her soul.
She didn’t want this—them—to wither away. And the depth of that realization struck her. She wanted him in her life. A life without him was already unimaginable; no purpose, no happiness, no light, no adventures, not even a single smile.
If she lost him somehow, she would go back to how she had been before she met him, or even a worse situation. She would be lifeless without him. It didn’t take her another minute to realize what had happened to her.
She was in love with him.
The Alexa who detested romance in real life was now in love—with the boy who made her feel alive.
She turned around in Tristan’s arms and heard his breath hitch as he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.
“Sweetheart?” His eyes widened in alarm, the smiles and intensity fading. “What’s wrong? Did I—”
“No,” she cut him off hastily with a shake of her head, and smiled. “It’s just, this is all so beautiful.Allof this.” She inclined her head to gesture to their surroundings. “But none of them can hold a candle to who you are or how much you’ve grown to mean to me.”
Tristan’s entire manner gentled. “Alexa…”
“I can’t believe what I’m feeling, Tristan.” Her voice broke slightly. “I feel like you’re… you’re everything in my world, and you mean so much more to me than I thought would be possible.” She swallowed loudly. “And I…”
She couldn’t say it. Not yet. As much as he’d grown on her, to say that she loved him was a bigger step. While all these feelings were surely growing into love, she needed time to further explore them herself before telling him.
Tristan stared at her with wide, expectant eyes. Alexa swallowed her original words and said, “Just kiss me.”
Not wasting a second, he leaned down and kissed her tender and sweet, as if he was trying to show her the tenderness of his passionate love. She kissed him back,clinging to his steady stature as their lips moved in a perfect sync.
“Alexa,” Tristan breathed her name. Before she could pull herself together to hum in response, he continued, pressing his forehead to hers and cradling her face firmly in his both hands. “I want you to say those words when you’re sure about what you feel for me.”
Of course,he realized what had been on the tip of her tongue. Her heart fluttered.
“I know your views on romantic relationships, and I don’t want to push your feelings. I willneverpush you. However long you may need to realize your feelings, I will wait. Know that I love you. You’re the center of my heart, my life, and my whole world, and Iwilllove you even if you don’t love me back.”
A tear slipped from her eye. She marveled once again what she had done to ever deserve an angel of a boy like him. She felt undeserving, yet she wanted him. More than anything.
She was in love with him, and he was making it too easy tolovehim too.
He brushed away her lone tear.