Page 170 of Burn

Maybe you understood what we went through, saw where we were heading and cried right along with us. Maybe you shouted and kept silent when we did, too. There were times I could have used someone yelling in my face.

Even now, I take satisfaction in knowing Caleb and I gave our hearts to experience what we did, and in turn, our tears, laughter, love, and anger saw us through the fire. It breathed for us when we couldn’t and carried us when our will gave up.

People have stories. Everyone does. I see it with every guest who walks into my hotel and stays with us for a night, or two, or just to meet you in a storage room closet or destroy the penthouse suite.

It’s written all over their faces in every expression and word they give you. Whether it’s your children telling you about the flying dragons in their room or your aunt telling you she once slept with Brad Pitt, or maybe it was someone who looked like him. They’re stories. That’s all they are.

Now, whether or not these stories are true is not up to you. They’re told for a reason. A way to believe in something. Some stories teach you. Hell, some even warn you.Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, they all hold meaning. And sometimes you don’t understand it right away.

When the smoke clears, you’ll see exactly what you were fighting for.

Love. Relationships. Experiences.

Love like it’s your last chance. Kiss like it’s your last kiss, and, most of all, laughing like it’s your last breath . . . because it just might be.

Someone once told me that they would give anything for one more hug, one more kiss, or to feel the arms of the one they love wrapped around them.

I understand that now. There are no words to describe what being with Caleb feels like for me because he’s right, loving someone is an experience, not a feeling. I don’t feel anything with him, I experience it. I finally have that deep, raw love that’s so profound it’s scorched into my soul, leaving me with the perfect burn.

No matter how many times we burst into flames, we can always rise from the ashes.