“They aren’t,” he maintained. “And I can’t be the reason you don’t succeed. Thrive. Get everything you want out of life. I won’t.”
“What are you saying?” It was a breath. A denial. Because my heart was screaming that he wasn’t about to say what my mind knew was coming next.
His lips parted before forming a thin line. That jaw straining and his body trembling as one of his hands lifted to his chest before cradling my head in his big palm.
“Beau, what are you saying?” I begged when no words left him.
His eyes searched my face for a long while before he spoke. The words forced and pained. “Savannah, I gotta let you go.”
“No.”
“Savannah,” he pleaded when I smacked his hands away and staggered back.
“No,” I choked out. “This is because of my parents? Hunter told me what they said—what they told you to do.”
Beau’s stare flashed up to the thick, full branches of the tree before meeting me again, frustration wavering on his expression before it was replaced with a broken mixture of devastation and determination.
“They can’t do this.”
“They’re right,” Beau said, the admission leaving him on a pained wheeze.
“No, they aren’t. Why can’t you see you the way I do?” I cried out. “Why can’t you see how much I love you?”
“I do,” he said quickly, reaching for me again as if he couldn’t help it. Needing me as badly as I needed him. “Fuck, I do. But, Savannah, you shouldn’t. From the day I met you, your mom’s been telling you to stay away from me. You need to listen to her.”
“Like hell I do.”
He curled his hands around my cheeks, pulling me close as all that agony and self-hatred bled from him. “Staying with me will only ruin you, why can’t you see that?”
I gripped his wrists, my chest rising and falling unevenly as I struggled to catch my breath. “You . . . having you—being loved by you—is everything I want for my life.” His forehead lowered to mine as I continued. “But if you tell me right now that you don’t love me, that you want this to be over, then I will try to accept that.”
His fingers curled tighter, tangling in my hair.
I knew he would do this—do what my parents were demanding—because he believed them. Because he believed everyone. But he wouldn’t lie to me, even for the sake of giving me what he thought was a better life.
“I love you with every last breath in my body, and I will love you long after I die.” The declaration was soft but filled with an intensity I felt in my bones.
My heart took off, trying desperately to reach the boy it belonged to. But I forced myself to remain still. To repeat the question he hadn’t answered.
“You want this to be over?” I asked, my tongue darting out to wet my lips. “Us?”
“I want you to have—”
“You know that isn’t what I’m asking.”
His eyelids closed and he exhaled slowly. “Savannah, I want you for the rest of my life.”
I nodded, my nose brushing along his. “Then ask me what I want.”
His stare met mine, tense and pleading. “What do you want, angel?”
“I want you to understand that life without you doesn’t make sense—it hasn’t since the day I met an angry bear of a boy covered in mud. And I want you exactly the way you are.” I released one of his wrists to place my hand over his fiercely beating heart. “I’ve always loved you. Not some idea of what you might be if you were different. Just you.”
I let my other hand drift to his knuckles, rough and already scabbing over from where he must’ve split them open again that evening, and watched as shame flickered across his face.
“I want you to understand that my parents are wrong about you. They’re wrong for saying the things they do, and I’m so sorry that you’ve had to endure it for even a second. I want you to know I’m not going anywhere. That I’ll be here, with you, by your side, forever.” I lifted a shoulder in a weak shrug. “Or until you decide otherwise.”
“That won’t happen,” he said gravely.
“Then you’re stuck with me, Beau Dixon.”
“Lucky,” he corrected. “Fucking lucky to be with you.” He brushed his mouth across mine, the action so light, so sweet, it stole my breath and left my lips tingling. A ragged breath left him, all acceptance and worry and relief, and released some of the weight on his shoulders. “Then can I take you somewhere?”
“I was hoping you would.” A slight tease danced on my tongue when I said, “I got all dressed up for you and everything.”
A soft groan rolled up his throat as he pressed his mouth to mine, stealing the giggle that had begun slipping free. “Saw that,” he growled against the kiss. “You wearing my last name will always be my favorite.”
“I know.”
“Come on.” He nipped at my bottom lip. “I have a surprise for you.”
My eyes widened when he began pulling me away from the tree. “You do?”
His stare flashed my way when he tucked me against his side, a secretive smirk hinting at the corner of his mouth.
“What is it?”
“A surprise.”
I pushed against his stomach. “Beau.”
“Few minutes,” he assured me. “Just gotta wait a few minutes.”
I let my head fall back dramatically, then tried to pull him toward his Explorer faster, but he kept his steady pace. “A few minutes is an hour too long. Let’s go.”
A dark, rumble of a laugh left him, his dimples flashing. “Crazy girl.”
“Bear.”
He drew me closer when we neared his car and leaned down to press his lips to my ear. “You really wanna know?” he asked, disbelief coating the words.
I blew out a slow sigh. “No.”
“Didn’t think so.” Reaching forward, he opened the passenger door, his eyes dancing with veiled excitement as he watched me climb in. Amusement lighting some of the darkness that clung to him when he reached out to trail the tips of his fingers along my jaw. “Been waiting all week for this, and it’s fucking worth it. Waiting years would be worth it.”
Confusion pulsed through me, but he just stepped back and closed the door.
I watched as he walked around the front of the car, trying to figure out what he could possibly be up to. What he could’ve kept from me for a week—what could be worth waiting years for.
Beau.
Beau was worth waiting years for.
But I had him.
“You haven’t figured it out?” he asked as he started the car and pulled onto the street.
“I mean, if we were eighteen and it wasn’t so late, I would think you were taking me to the courthouse. Or Vegas, but that isn’t minutes away.”
His head snapped to the side. His stare locked on mine in a way that made my stomach curl with heat and my heart go all kinds of crazy, even long after he’d looked back at the road.
“Savannah, the day I marry you, we aren’t gonna be in a courthouse or in front of a fake Elvis.” His head shook faintly. “Small. Simple. Sunset. Peonies. At the plantation house.”