Chance(55)

"I bought you something." He pushes his bare ass off the bed and leans down to pick up something from the floor. "I wanted to give it to you that day during your senior year."

I dip my chin down to try and get a glimpse of what's hidden within his fist, but I don't see a thing. "What is it?"

He uses his free hand to pull on my arm, motioning for me to sit in his lap. I do. I crawl into it, nuzzling my face into his neck.

"I wasted most of my life, Bell." His chest heaves as he works to catch his breath. "I kept thinking that I had to give up my love for you to have you as my friend."

I look up into his face. "We can be both."

"I was terrified when you loved Tom." He traces a path across my shoulder with his fingers. "I thought we'd never have a chance."

"We have a chance now."

"For so long I've believed that I needed to stay out of the way so you could find a man who would love you the way you deserved to be loved." He rests his chin against my cheek. "I didn't think you wanted me the same way I wanted you."

"I know." I sweep my fingers over his forehead. "I know that you didn't think that."

"Do you remember when you were a teenager and you had that crush on Ian?

I laugh against into his cheek. "I never had a crush on Ian."

"You did." He pulls me closer to him. "I wanted to kill him. I was so f*cking jealous. I saw the way you looked at him and I wanted you to look at me like that."

I breathe in the scent of his skin. "I did look at you like that. I've always looked at you like that."

"When you left the house a few weeks ago," he begins before he stops to kiss my cheek. "When you left the Hamptons house I ran into that bastard."

I tap him playfully on the shoulder. "He's not a bastard."

"He told me he saw you drinking wine in the garden," he whispers into the stillness of the room. "He told me that I was a fool for not telling you how I felt."

"You told me now."

"I don’t want to mess this up, Bell." His lips trail over my chin. "I won't mess this up. I can't live without you now. I won't be able to breathe if we're not us anymore."

I cradle his cheek in my hand as I stare into his eyes. "We won't mess this up. I can't live without you either."





Chapter 52


"Open it."

I stare down at the small circular box he's placed on my bare thigh.

"I want you to open it. I've had it in my apartment all these years."

"You had this in your apartment?" I push at the edge of it.

He nods." That's why I was so late tonight. I had to find it. Once I did I just sat with it. It brought back so many memories."

"What do you mean?" I ask as much to understand as to bide time so I can catch my breath.

"Just open it, Bell. I've been waiting to give it to you for so long."

"You were going to give this to me that day? During semester break?" I can't take my eyes off of the box.

"I bought this to give to you a very long time ago." He edges the box forward with his thumb. "I hoped that one day I could give it to you."

I hesitate before I reach down to scoop it into my hand. "What is it?"

He swallows hard before he covers my hand with his. "It's something you wanted. You showed it to Asher at that antique shop in South Hampton. My mom took us do the restaurant next door to it for lunch every Thursday and each time, you and Asher would go in the shop to look at it."

I pull my hands to my stomach. "Caleb. No."

"I drove Asher back to the shop one Friday afternoon and he showed it to me." He cups my chin in his hand so our eyes meet. "I bought it on the spot. I've had it since that day."

I know what it is. I already know what it is, but I tentatively pick up the box and carefully open the lid. It's there, just as I remember it. A small silver ring set with one pink pearl. "I remember this."

"You couldn't take your eyes off of it and you couldn't afford to buy it."

"It was really expensive." I try to recall the price and since I was only fourteen or fifteen at the time, I can't.

"It was eighty nine dollars," he says softly. "I bought it, put it in my pocket and when I got back to the house I thought about giving it to you, but the timing wasn't right."

"It wasn't?"

"I was twenty then, Bell."

"I wasn't." I smile.

"It's your ring now." He pulls it gently from the box. "It's a promise that I'll protect you. It's a sign of my need to love you and it's a symbol of everything we mean to each other."

"I love it." I slip it on the ring finger of my right hand. "I'll wear it here for now."

"You'll wear it on whatever finger you want." He pulls my left hand into his and brings it to his lips. "This finger here is reserved for me too."

I kiss his lips knowing that it's a promise that we're making today but it's a reality that has existed between the two of us for the past twenty-five years.