Living Out Loud (Austen, #3)(79)

“No, I’m not, and I doubt I’ll be the last.”

I held her for a moment, staring up at the rafters and air ducts of the exposed ceiling. “Is it really over?” I asked, plagued by uncertainty.

“Of course it’s over,” she said. “All I want is you.” The sincerity in her voice quieted my fears without another word.

The ache in my chest was back, but where it used to be broken with longing, it was now tight with joy.

“Oh! Can we take a picture?”

I smiled. “Absolutely.”

She sat, reaching for her little bag that had hung from her wrist all night, and a few minutes later, we had taken five pictures of the two of us, one of us kissing, her hands on my face and my arm extended as far as I could reach. I only hoped I caught it.

We set them on the table and waited for them to develop.

“I have a confession to make,” I said, reaching for my wallet on the table.

“Oh?”

“Mhmm.” I unfolded it, opening the long pocket and pulling out the little photo I’d taken of her on the steps of The Met. There was so much joy in that picture, in her tipped chin and high cheeks, her closed eyes and the flash of her smile, wide and open as she laughed.

She took it from my fingers, her face soft and awed. “You kept it?”

“It’s been with me ever since I took it.” You’ve been in my heart ever since I met you.

Her eyes told me she’d heard the silent admission, and when she reached for me, when she kissed me, she answered me with yes after yes until we were stretched out on the couch again, Annie across my chest.

When she broke the kiss, it was to nestle under my chin. She sighed. I sighed. We lay in the quiet.

My phone rang from the table next to the couch, and I remembered our predicament, reaching for it. Cam’s name was on the screen.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Oh my God, Greg. I am so sorry.”

I moved to sit, and Annie moved too, situating herself next to me, yawning.

“It’s all right. But what the hell happened?”

She sighed, and I heard her shuffling around on the other end of the line. “I didn’t realize my ringer was turned all the way down. I can’t believe Beau locked you in. Rose not answering, I can understand—she sleeps like she’s actually dead.”

I humphed a laugh. “Beau I can believe, which is exactly why I will never be nominating him for a promotion. Are you heading this way?”

“As fast as I can. And don’t think you’re going to get out of there without telling me what happened with Annie.”

I glanced at her, smirking. “Then I’ll start working on my story.”

We said goodbye and hung up. Annie was checking her phone with her face drawn.

“Everything okay?” I asked, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Will messaged me—he’s trying to apologize. He wants to see me.”

A warning shot fired down my spine.

She sighed heavily. “I think I’ve got to meet him. Hear him out and let him say his piece, and then I’ll tell him again it’s through.”

“You can’t text him?”

Annie made a face. “Last night, we were all shouting at each other and throwing around demands. I think I owe it to him to tell him face-to-face that it’s over, don’t you?”

“I don’t think you owe him a goddamn thing.”

Annie nodded, her long fingers moving to my vest to smooth it. “That’s fair, but…would you think worse of me if I said I wanted to? I’d like to break it off clean. I’d like to treat him like I’d want to be treated.”

It was my turn to sigh, and I angled toward her to press a kiss to her temple. “No, I wouldn’t think worse of you at all.”

She leaned into me. “I just have to figure out where to meet him.”

“Here,” I said without hesitation.

“I thought he was permabanned.”

“I’ll make this one-time exception. As much as I want to be here when it happens, I don’t think I can be in the same building with him without doing something I shouldn’t. And if I’m not going to be present, at least there will be people here I trust.”

“What do you think he’s going to do? Throw me over his shoulder and carry me back to his cave?” she asked on a laugh.

I didn’t even crack a smile. “Just humor me, Annie.”

“All right,” she conceded with trust behind her eyes, behind the words.

“Message him. Meet up as soon as you can. Because the second it’s through, I want to see you. I want every minute, every second I can get.” My voice trailed off to a whisper.

“Then you’ll have it.”

And I cradled her small face in my hands and kissed her.

A half an hour later, Cam had liberated us, and our tale had been recounted in broad strokes that seemed to satisfy her, if her dreamy smile was any indicator. We ran the plan to have Will come to the store by Cam, and Annie set up a time. And once that was all done, it was time to go.

She donned her yellow peacoat and pink hat and mittens, and we hopped on my board at her insistence. I didn’t think either of us wanted to say goodbye, and even though it was cold, a cab ride just seemed too fast. So we rode through Central Park on my skateboard in historical costumes, my tails flapping and cravat keeping my neck warm, the train of her gorgeous ballgown bustled and her gloved hands around my waist.