Don't Hate the Player...Hate the Game(79)

As she released me, she kissed me on the cheek. “Call me every day, okay?”

“I will.”

“I don’t care how expensive it is. I’ll pay.” She wagged her finger at me. “I’ll want to hear all about the work you’re doing and how you’re getting along.”

“Okay.” I ducked my head to keep Mom from ruffling my hair. I didn’t even dare to glance around for fear of who all had seen me being an utter and complete Mama’s Boy.

She kissed me one last time, and then she turned and got into the car. Greg gave me a thumbs up sigh. I smiled. Then I waved and watched their taillights fade in the distance.

With a determined step, I walked into the airport. I made it through check-in and security fine. It was only when I started to the concourse that my heart started racing uncontrollably. By the time I reached the gate, I had broken out in a nervous sweat. I scanned the crowd for Maddie. They were already boarding, so she must have already gotten on the plane. As I waited in line, I tapped my foot anxiously. What if Maddie still hated me for what I’d done and said? What if she refused to even hear me out? I mean, this whole plan was batshit crazy, but part of it hinged on her forgiveness and acceptance. It would blow being stuck in a foreign land with my tail firmly between my legs.

Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I took a deep breath and started towards the plane. Once I boarded, I walked down the aisle, searching for my seat. My heart skidded to a stop and restarted when I got to it.

There was Maddie.

I would’ve loved to have said it was fate, but in truth, Pastor Dan had given me her flight details the night before along with promising not to say a word.

Maddie glanced up from her iPad. Our eyes met, and she gasped so loud her entire body shuddered. With a wide-eyed expression, she jerked the buds from her ears and shot up from her seat, narrowly missing hitting her head. “Noah? What are you doing here?”

“I’m going to Costa Rica to do missionary work. What does it look like,” I replied, hoisting my carry-on into the compartment above us.

Maddie’s dark brows furrowed with confusion. “But I thought you were going to Rio with Alex and the other guys.”

“Can’t a guy change his mind?”

“But I don’t understand,” she murmured.

I sighed. It was now or never time to explain my feelings. “Well, I’m not going to be as eloquent as you, Miss Valedictorian, but to put it bluntly and to quote Kelly Clarkson, my life would suck without you!”

A hesitant smile crept on her lips. “Did you seriously just say that?”

I laughed. “Sadly, I think I did. Don’t you know you bring out the hopeless romantic in me—give me a chance and I might be quoting from bad 80’s songs in a few minutes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Cut to the chase, Noah. What are you really trying to say?”

I brushed an errant strand of dark hair out of her face. “Maddie, there aren’t words that can fully express how sorry I am for the absolute ass I was yesterday. I don’t know what kind of ridiculousness came over me, but I’m very, very sorry. I know Jake loved you and you loved him, and I’m okay with that. I’m okay with the fact you’re a natural born caregiver, and you’re always going to have this annoyingly sweet need to take care of others.” When she started to protest, I put my finger over her lips. “But babe, I just need you to let go sometimes and give others a chance to care of you. Most of all, I need you to let me take care of you.”

“Um, okay,” she murmured.

“I’m not finished.”

“You aren’t?”

I grinned. “No, I’m not.”

“All right.”

“There’s something else I need to say—something I should have said to you yesterday an even weeks before that.” Gently, I traced my thumb over her cheekbone. “Madelyn Elizabeth Parker, I am truly, madly, and deeply in love with you.”

Tears sparkled in Maddie’s dark eyes. “Noah—”

I held up a hand to silence her. “Let me finish. I’ve been in love with you since the day I saw you after Jake died. You appeared to me like an angel, and in a way, you have been my angel. You are so beautiful sometimes that it stuns me, and it leaves me speechless. When you smile that smile that spreads across your face and brings out your dimples, it makes my heart melt.” I leaned in closer to where my breath brushed against her cheek. “You’ve been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don’t know if I could live without you.”

Maddie blinked a few times in disbelief. “Oh Noah, did you really just say all that?”

“Yep.”

“And you really mean it?”

“Every single word.”

Closing her eyes, she rubbed her cheek against my hand. “Do you know what it means to me to hear you say that? I’ve hoped and dreamed that you would, but to actually hear it off your lips…” She popped open her eyes and stared up at me. “It’s amazing.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, too, because I want everything with you. But if you can’t forgive me for being such a monumental ass**le, I’ll accept that, and we can just be friends. All I care about is being with you.”

Before I could say anything else, her mouth was on mine. The warmth of her tongue slid my lips open, and neither one of us could enough of each other. The sound of someone clearing his throat broke our moment. Maddie pulled away and blushed.