“What are you doing, Mason?”

“Okay,” he says. “You can open your eyes.”

I’m nervous, my stomach fluttering as if it’s nothing more than scraps of paper in the wind. But when I do open my eyes, I’m not even sure where we are. It’s dark, and there’s a fence in front of us and lights in the distance. “I don’t understand.”

“We’re at the airport.”

I look at the lights in front of us and then back to Mason and his anxious smile. “Yeah, but why?”

He swallows. “Nic used to take you to the airport on dates, right?”

“Yeah . . .”

“I’m glad I wasn’t your childhood crush, because crushing on the bad boy next door made you daring. I’m glad I wasn’t your first love, because loving a man everyone thought the worst of made you unapologetic. I’m grateful I wasn’t your first lover, because giving Faith to your sister made you selfless. I don’t want to erase Nic from your life, because I’m madly in love with the woman you are, and he’s part of you.”

My eyes brim with tears. Damn. Why does he have to be so good at this?

“I can’t bring him back for you, Bailey. All these years I’ve been waiting for you to want me more than you want him, but almost losing you for real made me realize how stupid that was. Love isn’t an elementary school game of kickball. It’s not about being picked first. It’s about wanting to give you everything I can. It’s about wanting to experience life with you by my side. I know you don’t like fancy things, which is good, because God knows if they’ll ever renew my contract, and a two-year NFL career doesn’t exactly make for a life of riches.” Chuckling, he ducks his head. “I don’t need fancy things, and I don’t need you to love me more than you loved him. I just want a chance to love you and live my life with you, and to bring you as much happiness as I can. I’ll take whatever love you have to give me. Less or more, bigger, smaller—love doesn’t work like that, and I’m sorry I thought it did.”

In my chest, my healing heart aches at its seams. “I never loved Nic more than I love you. I just loved him more publicly than I loved you. Because a girl like me is allowed to love a guy like him, and even I didn’t have the audacity to love a man like you, Mason. Loving Nic wasn’t scary, because I always knew he’d push me away again. And if he ever stopped pushing me away, I knew exactly what a life with him would look like. But loving you is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, because it means I have to believe in myself enough to think I deserve your love in return.”

He draws in a ragged breath and shakes his head. “Jesus, Bailey, you deserve more.”

I squeeze his hands. “I’m getting there, okay? But this?” I wave to the lights of the airport in the distance. “Mason, I don’t need you to try to be Nic or give me what Nic would have given me. I don’t want that. I just want you, as yourself, giving me the chance to grow, the chance to be brave enough to love you despite my mistakes.”

“You have me.”

“Forever?”

“And always.”