I didn’t have the answers yet, but I wasn’t terrified of them anymore.

Getting you to realize that you and me, we’re not over.

You’re the only woman I’ve ever been with. My first. My last.” He kissed the canyon at the base of my neck. “My only.

No one had ever talked about me that way, like I was so close to perfect the imperfections were washed away. I.

My heartbeat was so strong, I could feel it in my palms. “But I’m not your woman.” My head tipped back just enough I could make out his figure. “You’re the closest thing to it.

Damn it, kiss me, Luce.

So much for all those sweet county boy manners I thought you had.

She wrung the life out of each day, loved like she’d never been hurt, and laughed like she’d never known sorrow.

I love you. Still. Always. There’s nothing you can say or do to change that.

I fell for you forever ago and there’s nothing you’ve done since that moment that has changed that. There’s nothing you could do to change that. When a person falls, they don’t just get up, dust themselves off, and keep going. If they fell right, if they fell good and hard the first time, there’s no getting up from that fall because they landed right where they were supposed to.