Page 102 of One More Dare
There’s a low knock at the door, probably Josie with her horrific timing. That hasn’t changed in five years either.
“Porter!”
Yep, I was right.
“One sec,” I shout back as Will steps closer and takes my hands, thumbs brushing over my knuckles the way he does when he’s steadying me.
“You okay?” he asks, quieter now.
I nod. Then shake my head. Then laugh because that’s apparently who I am now. “Yeah. I just… I keep thinking about the guy I was when I met you.”
His brow creases. “The guy who called me straight every five minutes?”
“That one,” I say with a laugh. “That’s the story I’m going to tell our kids one day. I met your dad, and he immediately shut me down by telling me he was straight, and now he’s my husband.”
Will squeezes my hands. “I’m glad that guy got his head out of his ass.”
“Me too,” I agree.
The knock comes again, louder this time. “P, are you almost ready?”
Will grins. “Ready?”
I think about the lake house, the fake proposal speech, nights at the drive-in, all the time we spent in the coffee shop, and the first time he said boyfriend. About every moment he chose me out loud. About him and me choosing each other again and again. How when, on the rare occasion we get drunk, he still orders us Taco Bell.
About all the times I found myself falling in love with this man over the last five years.
“Yeah,” I say, meaning it in a way I never could have back then. “I am.”
We walk to the door together, and when it opens and the noise rushes in, the people, the life we built, I don’t shrink or hesitate or wonder if I belong here.
I step forward.
Because this time, I don’t have any fears or doubts. I know exactly where I stand, and I know Will is proud to be at my side. I never would have guessed when Will was assigned as my debate partner that it would have led to this moment, but I’m so fucking happy it did.
THE END
