Unintended - Page 93

A lump formed in my throat. I remembered it so clearly. How much panic I’d felt when I’d heard he was in hospital, and how it had ripped me apart to see how broken he was.
“But then there was you,” he went on. “You were the one person in my life that had become like a bright light, the only thing breaking through the darkness. I wanted to hold onto that, to you, but I was also afraid that if I did, I might break you down too. But you never gave up on me. You gave me a place to stay, a purpose, and now, you’ve given me a family. None of that would have happened if it wasn’t for that one night, when, even though you didn’t know me and were in the middle of a panic attack, you held an umbrella over me in the rain.”
Closing my eyes, I turned my head, placing a kiss on the palm of his hand before putting the box down under the Christmas tree and crawling onto his lap, my legs wrapped around him, and my arms around his neck.
“You’ve given me a lot too, Ash,” I said, kissing him lightly on the lips, and his hands moved around to my back. “You taught me it’s okay to trust again, and that hiding from my problems doesn’t actually make them go away. You understood me and accepted my flaws without question, and then… you gave me a family too. Arya and Avery might not be biologically yours, but you are what makes us complete. If I had a million wishes, I don’t think I could ever have wished for someone as perfect for me as you are.”
I saw a glimmer of tears in Ash’s eyes, but he quickly blinked them away, leaning in and lightly bumping his nose against mine. “God, you’re corny.” I burst out laughing, and he grinned at me, pressing his lips to mine. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
As he kissed me again, we sank back onto the soft carpet, and I smiled against his lips.
The first Christmas I’d known him might have been our worst ever, but this one?
This one was the best.