Page 193 of Reel

“I’m glad.” His eyes sober, his full lips flattening into a line. “Are you scared?”

“Are you?” I counter with a smile.

“Yeah. I know you’ll be fine, but I just . . .” A frown disrupts the smooth arch of his brows. “You’ve become the most important part of my life. I want this over. I want your body to accept the kidney. For us to know it won’t reject it. For you to start healing.”

“You want a lot.”

“Just you.” His smile is tender and warm, and something I never would have thought I’d see from the man who intimidated me the first night we met. “I—”

Before he can say it, I say it first this time. “I love you, Canon.”

He swallows, blinks and kisses my forehead, lingering like he’s having to drag himself away. “I love you back.”