Mine to Have (Southern Wedding #1)(49)

I nod at him and turn around, walking toward my room. For the first time in the last month, my steps feel lighter. For the first time in the last four months, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in four years, I can feel my heart beating again.





Chapter 25





Travis

I press the connect button on the middle screen. "Hello.” Shelby’s voice fills the car.

"Hey," I answer, looking around at the green trees as I drive down the road. "What’s up?”

"Just checking in," she says, and I can imagine that she just spoke to my mother. Who is the only one who knows where I’m going right now. I can also hear that she’s rushing somewhere, and knowing that she is probably at a wedding, this conversation is going to be quick.

"Checking in?" I chuckle. "Or calling to get the scoop?"

She gasps, "Can’t a big sister call and check on her baby brother?" I can’t help but laugh loud.

"Smooth. But I’m just getting to Harlow’s house," I say, turning onto the street and my heart starts to beat faster and faster as I get closer to her house. "And I haven’t seen her in a while, so..."

"So, you are going to bang her on the porch." She roars out a laugh. "You’ll last maybe five seconds."

"Goodbye," I say and then she cuts in right away.

"Good luck," she says, and I disconnect when I pull into the driveway and see that her car is there parked in the middle.

It’s been a week since she’s had a little breakdown, and I’m not going to lie, she’s been more quiet than normal. It’s almost as if she is pulling away from me, and every single day, I got itchier and itchier to say my plans.

Getting out of the car, I listen to the sound of calmness and smile when I look up at the house, knowing she’s right in there. I jog up the steps to the front door and I have to laugh at myself when I see my hand shaking when I ring the doorbell. The last time I spoke to her she was just getting home and she was rushing to get off the phone.

I put my hands in my pockets as I wait for her to answer the door. I feel as nervous as I did on our first date. Even though we were talking way before we even went on that first date, I just knew what a big deal it was. I also didn’t want to fuck anything up.

My heart speeds up even faster, my hands get really clammy, my knees are starting to shake, and now the nerves have moved from my stomach to the back of my neck. I reach out again to ring the bell and the sudden dread fills me. Maybe I should have told her I was coming. Maybe I should have told her my plans instead of just surprising her. All the maybes and the doubts run rampant through me. "Coming." I hear her voice and I don’t have any time to prepare when the door swings open and she stands there. Everything that I was thinking before is suddenly gone with one look at her. She’s wearing navy-blue loose shorts with a matching V-neck shirt. "Oh my gosh." Is the only thing she says before she jumps into my arms. "Oh my goodness." She wraps her arms and legs around me and buries her face in my neck. "Is this for real?"

I laugh as I step into her house and shut the door with my foot. "It’s for real," I assure her, laughing, and she unburies her head from my neck. Her green eyes light up when she puts her hand on my cheek and leans in to kiss my lips softly.

I take a couple of steps into the house. "Why is it you’re always carrying me?" She laughs and my heart skips a beat.

"I’ll carry you every single day," I say and she tilts her head to the side. "I missed you." My arms squeeze around her waist even more, pulling her to me and it’s my turn to bury my face in her neck.

"How long can you stay?" she asks softly as her hands go into the back of my hair.

"All weekend," I say, figuring I am going to start off slow.

She gasps, and I remove my face from her neck. "Like, all weekend. Like, sleeping and waking up?"

"Yup." I smile and look around, seeing the boxes scattered all over the place. "What is all this?" I look at her and see that her eyes avoid me. "Are you moving?"

She slips her legs off my waist and slides down off me. "I think we should talk," she says and all the nerves I had before have come back. She slips her hand in mine as she pulls me to the couch with her. I’m trying not to panic at this moment, but everything is screaming at me that I should have spoken to her about my plans.

She slides onto the couch and tucks her legs under her and I sit next to her. "I think we definitely need to talk," my mouth says before my brain can catch up. I had this whole speech planned, the benefit from driving six hours is you have a lot of time to think. I look and see that there are more boxes. My heart feels like it’s hammering in the middle of my chest. "Umm," is all I can say when I close my eyes and try to find the words that are clustered all around my head.

"Travis," she says and starts to say something else but I hold up my hand.

"I really need to get this out," I start, turning to look at her. I push the hair away from her face, needing to touch her. "The last week I’ve been going through all these things in my head." She smiles at me.

"I have also." She reaches out with her hand to hold mine. Her fingers link with mine and all I can think is that I want to hold her hand in mine forever.