Babe.”I turn to Damon. Did he just call me—“You weren’t answering to your name. Matt’s gone. You wanna …?” He tips his head in the direction of Noah’s front door.I scramble to my feet so fast everyone finds it comical, but I don’t care. Damon and I will be back at my apartment in twenty minutes—tops.

Damon:Fun fact. Walking into an empty apartment and yelling SURPRISE when no one’s home isn’t as fun as you’d think it would be. Where are you?Now there’s a visual.

You’re home.” A grin lights up his face.

I lean in and kiss his cheek. “I might keep you. You’re good for my ego.

I’m planning to jump in headfirst with my eyes closed and hope for the best. I’m acting instead of wishing for more, and I want you to do it with me.”I swallow hard and force myself to say the words I’ve been too scared to admit. “Because I love you.

Maddox has a way of making me smile without even realizing I’m doing it, and I could definitely see myself coming home to him in the future.

His words shouldn’t surprise me—Maddox is always changing the expected—but the fact he’s even thought about the long run makes me love him even more.

I smile up at the guy who’s become everything to me and relent, because how can I complain when he’s promising me something I never thought he’d give me?

I love you, Maddy. For so many reasons we’d be here until sundown if I listed them all. You’re my forever, my everything, my future, and I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me that. You’re right when you say I like things in order. I like boxes and hard lines. But you? You make my life messy in the best possible way. You remind me that there’s more to life than rules and labels and everything being perfect.