CHAPTER 39 (1)

When Emily opens the door of her hotel room, her face slackens in shock. But what I notice most is how damned beautiful she looks in her gray oversized T-shirt, her hair falling in wet curls around her shoulders. Her face is bare, her lips full and enticing as she takes me in. “You’re not the delivery guy,” she murmurs. “You were going to open the door looking like that?” My gaze drags down her body, the way her damp hair leaves wet spots on her shirt, dripping down across her breasts. Her legs are miles long under the hem, begging a man to sell his soul for the chance to wrap them around his waist. Her lips curve. “I was really hungry.” She moves to let me in, and I follow, the door clicking shut behind me. “I saw your video on Jacob’s vlog,” she says as I take in the modest but tidy room with two double beds. “You were amazing.” “Thanks.” Her praise warms me in a way no one else’s can. “Do you want to sit?” she gestures around us, but the only place is the bed. I shake my head. It’s safer to talk like this, standing up, a few feet between us. “Nah. I’ve been sitting on a plane all day.” She nods, weaving her hands together in front of her. “What are you doing here? Jacob told me you took a meeting with Zeke and he offered to sign you again. Congratulations.” “I didn’t sign.” Emily lifts her chin, eyes widening in surprise. “Why not?” Because you’re my business. More so than any agents or producers. I want to close all the distance between us but settle for half of it. “I was sitting in the chair across from him and thinking about what happened the last time I signed, and I realized something.” I take a slow breath, not missing the significance of this moment, of what I’m about to say—of what I can’t keep inside any longer. “I didn’t go off the rails because of my dad or the contract or New York. It was because I was finally starting to believe in my dreams and you weren’t there for it.” Emily’s eyes shine, and I force myself to keep going because I have to get through what I came here to say, and if she breaks down, it’s gonna be even harder. “I know you think I chose Eddie over you. But I chose you a long time ago. Over everything and everyone. And you chose me.” I shove both hands through my hair, the emotions rising up. “When you gave me that guitar in high school, you gave me you. I was too young and stupid to understand that. I was convinced our feelings would fuck up your life or mine. But twice I’ve had that moment where my dreams are about to come true, and twice it’s been meaningless without you. And I know I’m stubborn, but I won’t make the same mistake.” The distance between us is unbearable, so I close it, wrapping my hands around her bare arms under the T-shirt sleeves. “I see you, Emily. I’ve always seen you. At your best, your worst, everything in between. And even when you fuck things up, I want a front-row seat because it’s so damn beautiful.” My voice cracks. “I love you, Six. You’re the only song I wanna sing, the only movie I wanna watch, the only”—now I’m grasping—“food I wanna eat.” Emily sucks in a trembling breath as her gaze searches my face as if she’s looking for evidence of my words. She’ll find it. On every inch of me, she’ll find it. “Jacob told me what you did by stepping back from the showcase for me,” I continue, needing to finish. “I wish you hadn’t, and I would have tried to stop you if I’d known, but I can’t seem to stop you from doing anything. It’s maddening, and it’s one more thing I love about you.”” I brush a thumb across her lower lip because the pull between us it too strong to resist. She doesn’t try to stop me, and the softness of her skin, coupled with the way she lets me touch her, has conviction and possessiveness rising up. “Now it’s my turn to do something you don’t want. You asked me for space, and I tried to give it to you. But I won’t let you push me away because you think anything, anyone, matters more to me than you. You’ll always be wrong.” We’re standing flush, her chest brushing mine in a way that reminds me she’s practically naked. Her expression’s colored with caring and something more than that, something bold and edgy, and it tugs at me. “You want to eat me?” she asks softly. I slide my fingers into her damp hair, cupping her face. “That’s what you took from my speech?” She bites her lip, and my thumb strokes up her soft jaw in a way that makes her eyes darken. “I love you too, Timothy.” Holy fuck. My chest expands until it’s near breaking. Her throat works, her hands wrapping around my wrists. But instead of pulling me away, she just holds them. Her dark lashes flutter as her attention drops to my mouth. I never expected hearing those words would hit me so hard, but it does. Maybe I’ve been waiting to hear them for longer than I thought. “That’s it?” I whisper even though I’m shaking, adoration blurring with the desire her touch stirs in me. “No poems, no songs, no anything?” She shakes her head. “We don’t need them.” She’s right. But there is something we do need, something that has my abs clenching, my entire body aware of every inch of hers. “Tell me again,” I mutter. “I love you.” Emily’s response is instant, her gaze searching as if the answer I gave her is only part of what she’s looking for. She’s mine—her heart, her soul, her body. I know it, but I want to prove it, want to show her I’m hers every bit as much. My mouth claims hers, possessive and needy at once. She shifts up on her toes, wraps her arms around my neck, and crushes herself against me. Her body heat through the dampness of her T-shirt turns the fire inside me into a blaze. She’s as hungry as I am, teasing my tongue with hers, dragging her nails across my scalp in a way that has me groaning. I lift her in my arms and carry her to the bed, dropping her on the covers. In an instant, she’s on her knees to meet me, reaching for my clothes.