Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5)(35)

She laughs and hearing that sound immediately brings tears to my eyes again. I squeeze her tight against me and rest my cheek against the top of her head and sigh.

“It’s probably for the best that it all happened like it did,” I say. “If we had decided to keep him I would have ruined him with some stupid nickname. I probably would have called him Salty Balls or some shit like that. I’m not cut out to be a dad yet, obviously.”

She shakes her head. “You’d be a great dad. And one of these days, Salty Balls will be the perfect nickname for one of our kids. Just not yet.”

Now I’m the one laughing. “What if we have all girls?”

She shrugs. “Even better.”

I smile and keep her held close against me. After last night and being apart from her, knowing how much she was hurting, I know I’ll never want to feel that way again. I never want her to feel that way again.

“You know what I just realized?” she says. “We’ve already had sex. I’ve been kind of bummed because if I had sex with you, it would have made you the seventh person I’ve ever had sex with and that’s a lot. But you’ll still be the sixth, because I was already counting you and I didn’t even know it.”

“I like six,” I say. “That’s a good number to be. It’s actually my favorite number.”

“Don’t get too excited now that you know we’ve already had sex,” she says. “I’m still making you wait.”

“I’ll wear you down soon enough,” I tease.

I bring one of my hands up to her head and I hold it while I lean forward and kiss her softly on the lips. I stay close to her mouth and make a confession. “I haven’t brought this up because we haven’t been together that long and I didn’t want to scare you off. But now that I know we have a kid together, it makes it less embarrassing.”

“Oh, no. What is it?” she asks nervously.

“We graduate in less than a month. I know you and Sky and Holder were planning on going to the same college in Dallas after the summer. I had already applied to a college in Austin, but after I met you I might have applied to Dallas, too. You know . . . in case things worked out with us. I didn’t like the thought of being five hours apart.”

She tilts her head and looks up at me. “When did you apply?”

I shrug like it’s not a big deal. “The night Sky had that dinner for you.”

She sits up and looks at me. “That was twenty-four hours after we went out for the first time. You applied to my college after knowing me for one day?”

I nod. “Yeah, but technically I knew you for a whole year. If you look at it that way, it’s way less creepy.”

She laughs at my logic. “Well? Did you get accepted?”

I nod. “I might have already made living arrangements with Holder, too.”

She grins and it’s probably the most I’ve ever loved a smile. “Daniel? This is serious. This thing with us. It’s pretty intense, huh?”

I nod. “Yeah. I think we might really be in love this time. No more pretending.”

She nods. “Things are so serious now, I think it’s time I introduced you to all my brothers.”

I stop nodding and start shaking my head back and forth. “I may be exaggerating. I don’t love you that much.”

She laughs. “No, you love me. You love me so much, Daniel. You’ve loved me since the second I let you accidentally touch my boob.”

“No, I think I’ve loved you since you forced me to stick my tongue in your mouth.”

She shakes her head. “No, you’ve loved me since I let you kiss me in a crowded restaurant next to a dirty diaper.”

“Nope. I’ve loved you since you walked through Sky’s bedroom door with that spoon in your mouth.”

She laughs. “Actually, you’ve loved me since the first time you told me you loved me a year ago. Right here in this room.”

I shake my head. “I’ve loved you since the moment you fell on top of me and said you hated everybody.”

She stops smiling. “I’ve loved you since the moment you said you hated everybody, too.”

“I used to hate everybody,” I say. “Until I met you.”

“I told you I was unhateable.” She grins.

“And I told you unhateable isn’t even a real word.”

Her eyes focus on mine and she takes both my hands, then laces her fingers through them. We stare at each other like we’ve done so many times before, but this time I feel it in every single part of me. I feel her in every part of me and the feeling is new and heavy and intense and I realize in this moment that we just became so much more together than we could ever possibly be alone.

“I love you, Daniel Wesley,” she whispers.

“I love you Seven Marie Six Cinderella Jacobs.”

She laughs. “Thank you for not turning out to be an ass**le.”

“Thank you for never asking me to change.” I lean forward and kiss the smile that just spread across her lips as I silently thank the universe for sending her back to me.

My f**king angel.

The end.