Page 109 of Shine For Me

I gasp out loud. Fox? How could Fox be here? There’s no way he could have gotten here from Venice since the interview ended.

“Who is it?” Mom asks.

“I…I think it might be Fox.” But I peer closer at the video screen. It kind of looks like there are more people in the car.

She comes over and clutches my arm. “What the heck are you waiting for? Let him in!”

“But what if it’s not—”

“June. I came all this way to see you. If there’s going to be a dramatic romantic reunion, I want front row seats. Now buzz him in!”

“I’m glad my love life is so entertaining to you,” I grumble, but I unlock the gate. We both watch as the SUV pulls into my driveway. Before it’s even parked, the back door is opening and—

“Oh my God, it really is him.”

“So why are you standing here?” Mom cries. “Go!”

I decide if there’s ever been a time to take my mom’s advice, it’s now. So I kick off my slippers and run barefoot through the front door. I regret that choice when my feet hit the gravel in the driveway, but Fox is running to me and it doesn’t really matter if my feet hurt. A moment later, I’m throwing myself into his arms. He catches me easily, lifting me against his chest so my bare feet dangle above the ground.

“God, I missed you,” he says.

“I’m so sorry!”

“I’m the one who’s sorry, June.”

I finally force myself to pull back enough to see his face. “How are you here? The interview just ended.”

He shakes his head as he looks down at me. “I was on my way before the interview.”

“You…you were?”

“I was. Decided I was tired of waiting around for you to call me back.”

I close my eyes, regret washing over me. “I’m sorry. I promised myself I wouldn’t come to you until I could do it honestly.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead. “You were always honest with me, June.”

“But I asked you to hide, and that was so wrong.”

He opens his mouth to argue and I shake my head. “It was wrong. Being with you is an honor, Fox. I should have been shouting that from the rooftops.”

His eyes look suspiciously wet. “I wasn’t honest either. I never told you that I loved you.”

A tension I didn’t even know I’d been carrying loosens in my chest and I feel lighter than I ever have in my life. Fox loves me. He loves me. How is that even possible?

“I’m so sorry, June,” he says, kissing the side of my face, my forehead, my eyelids. “Please don’t cry.”

“I’m crying because I’m happy,” I tell him. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes I do.” He pulls away again, his expression grave as he looks down at me. “I shouldn’t have left you on your own to deal with all that. I know how your family is. I knew you didn’t have the support you deserved. I’ll never forgive myself for leaving you all alone like that.”

But I wasn’t alone. I think about Grey skipping his photo shoot to come and be with me. And my cousins who are right now talking to Jimmy, risking his anger, maybe even risking their careers. Even Jude, who has called me every day since I left Napa.

And I think about my mom, who didn’t hesitate to get on a plane today so I would have someone to hold my hand when the interview aired. My mom, who didn’t even blink before she told me to go for it when I explained what I wanted to do—even knowing that Jimmy could retaliate, that he wouldn’t think twice about hurting her to punish me. Grey was right—we probably should have given her the chance to protect us a long time ago.

“I realized something this week,” I tell Fox, my voice thick with emotion. “I have a lot more support than I realized.” I look up into the beautiful blue eyes I’ve spent so long loving. “I want to be with you because you’reyou, Fox. Not because I have a shitty family. Not because I’m afraid to be alone. I want to be with you because you’re my favorite person and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“Does that mean you might feel the same way about me as I feel about you?” he asks, that boyish grin I love so much beginning to light up his face.