I nod. Take a breath.
“I’m rejecting it. The offer. The changes. All of it. I’m emailing him right now, telling him we’re done.For good.”
Kaleb’s eyes soften. “You sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure.” I pull out my phone. Fingers steady now. I type fast.
Pace,
No. I’m not interested. The book stays as it is. We’re finished. Do not contact me again.
Taron
Send. Blocked again. Everywhere. And this time he’s staying blocked. I don’t need people like that in my life, not anymore. Not now I have Kaleb.
I set the phone down.
Kaleb watches me the whole time. When I look up, his expression is different—open, vulnerable in a way I’ve never seen.
“Taron,” Kaleb says, his voice warm but with a hint of nerves in it.
My heart stops.
“I love you.”
The words land soft. Certain. Like they’ve been waiting forever.
“I love you so damn much,” Kaleb continues. “You’re my Forever. My Little. My everything. And I’ll go anywhere with you. City. Woods. Doesn’t matter. I just want to be where you are.”
Tears spill over and I can see that Kaleb isn’t a million miles away from tears either. But for both of us, any tears are happy ones.
“I wouldneverask you to leave,” I whisper. “And I don’t want to. I want to stay. Here. With you.Forever.”
He turns to me and cups my face. Thumbs brush away tears.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
My Forever Daddy leans in and kisses me—slow, deep, perfect. Right there in the diner, in front of everyone.
The bell jingles.
Robbie and Trask burst in—flushed, laughing, hand in hand.
Robbie’s eyes go wide. “Did we just walk in on amoment?”
Kaleb grins against my lips and pulls back just enough to say, “Yeah. You did, Robbie.”
“Well I’ll be… the great Kaleb Ruhst finally found his boy,” Trask laughs, a look of delight in his eyes as he slaps Kaleb on the shoulders.
Robbie and Trask both slide into the booth.
“Milkshakes!” Robbie declares. “Mega milkshakes all round. We’re celebrating!”
Trask raises a brow at Kaleb. “I told you…”
Kaleb’s arm slides around my shoulders. Pulls me close.