Page 116 of Wild Thing
Brax’s arms tightened around me as I bled to death with my honesty.
“I hopscotched through life. Running. Distracting myself by work and traveling. Which worked, to an extent. But every night, lying in bed, my thoughts would always return to you," I gripped onto Brax's forearms. Maybe if I held him tight enough, the words would seep into his skin. "Once I moved to White Point, my life became work. And before I knew it, I had fallen into exactly what I was fearful of… living a predictable, boring life like ever other mindless person. I fell into a shitty relationship with a shitty guy because I thought that's all there was for me."
I sighed deeply and continued.
"But I’d never felt more empty. Unhappy. Borderline depressed, probably. I came to the city begging the universe for a sign," I nudged against him. "And then you walked into the bar."
A few moments passed in silence, aside from the waves crashing onto the shore.
Maybe I’d said too much.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Brax said eventually. "My life lacked purpose until I saw you again."
A breeze rolled in as the sun dipped below the paper thin line on the horizon. The sky was a mix of magentas, red and orange, like it was on fire. Just how my body felt with Brax’s arms wrapped around me.
“What’s going to happen next?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
I turned around and studied his face. He had his hoodie up over his head, a few loose strands of his dark hair peeking out and blowing in the cool breeze. “But our lives are in different places.”
His full lips parted slowly. “We’ll figure it out."
I wondered if maybe he hadn’t truly thought about the logistics of what being together entailed.
One of us was going to have to move.
One of us was going to have to sacrifice more than the other.
“What if you get home, and you realize you’ve made a huge mistake and that Ally–”
“Stop with that bullshit. That’s not going to happen,” he snapped. I hadn’t heard his voice this stern before. “I’ll always remember what it was like to not have you. I'm not going through that again.”
I could feel my throat closing over. It’s not like Ineededto hear these things, but I needed that reassurance, that promise that he wasn’t going to bail once we left here.
I wasn’t sure when I became this lovesick, but I guess that was what love did to me.
It rendered me helpless and made me its little, cheating bitch.
“Stop being so fucking worried that I’m going to get home and forget about you, or about us. Don’t you get it? You’re it for me. I just wantyou. All of you. Your fucked up, messy mind included.”
I could feel tears welling, threatening to spill and slide down my cheeks. I didn't want to look this vulnerable, or meek, but I'd dropped my walls and it felt freeing.
He reached his giant hands to my face and cupped my cheeks.
“I’m all in Dylan. I’m so in love with you. I’ve never stopped loving you. Not for one day. And it's going to get worse before it gets better. It'll be uncomfortable when we get home and do what we have to do,” he said. "But in the end, we'll be together. All this shit will have been worth it. Are you ready?"
He loved me?
The first stars of the night watched on as I leaned into him and kissed him furiously.
He. Loved. Me.
It felt like it was us against the world.
Pity in just over 24 hours, it would be us against each other.
Thirty-Three
