Second(39)

“I love you, Sabina,” he whispers to me, kissing me softly, a sweet kiss that coincides with his words.

“Dean—”

“Don’t say anything,” he says, shutting me up with his mouth. “I don’t want you to say anything, I just wanted you to know that that’s how I feel about you. I love you. I think I always have in some way or form, and I want it. I want us. I’m not going to do anything to fuck this up.”

I don’t know what to say, so I just kiss him again, telling him without the words how I feel about him.

There’s something here, something worth it.

It’s rare, it’s pure.

And Dean won’t be fighting to keep it alone.





Chapter Twenty

“What do you do if there’s paparazzi in the airport?” I ask him as we get close.

“I usually have security walk me through,” he says, rubbing the stubble on his cheek. “But it just attracts more attention. I’ll just walk through quickly. It’s a small town; I doubt I’ll have any drama. I didn’t last time.”

“I’m coming in with you,” I say.

I guess we can do that whole sad airport goodbye part.

“Do you want to talk about anything?” he asks me, glancing at me quickly before turning back to the road. “I don’t want you to feel like we’re not okay, you know? That’s going to drive me insane while I’m back at home.

If there’s anything you want to talk about, let’s have it out now.”

“I don’t think there’s anything else to say,” I say, shrugging. “You kept something huge from me, Dean, and I’m hurt and upset about it. You know how I feel. I’m going to take this time alone to clear my head and try to sort my feelings out.”

“I fucked up, I’ll be the first to admit it,” he says, hand finding my thigh. “I handled it all… terribly, and that’s an understatement. I should have told you. I’m sorry. Please, don’t think I’m keeping anything else from you, or that I’m not an honest person because that’s not the case. I’ll never do to you what he did. I’d never betray you in any way. I’m not him. You’re everything I’ve always wanted, and I’ll never hurt you intentionally. It kills me that you’re hurt, which I knew was inevitable. I guess I was just holding off on the pain, in fucking denial, thinking that none of this stuff would ever touch you. I was stupid.”

“Yes, you were,” I admit, lifting my chin up. I then soften my tone and say, “I don’t want you to leave with us angry with each other either. So no, I’m not happy about it, but we’re okay and we can discuss this further another time.”

Sometimes people leave and don’t come back. Accidents happen. There’s no chance in hell I’m letting us part on bad terms.

“You’re the one who is angry,” he says, his tone light. “Not me. So you have to stop being angry.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t lie or omit or conceal shit from me again, Dean.”

“I won’t,” he says, squeezing my thigh. “I’ll let you know about any other illegitimate kids straight away.”

I slap at his arm. “Too soon to joke, buddy. Way too soon.”

“Sorry,” he says, but I don’t miss his lip twitching.

He turns to me and sees my unimpressed expression. “I love you, Sabina.”

“You going to use that to get you out of things every time you’re a douche?” I ask, the mood between us changing to light and playful.

“If it works,” he says. “And you don’t think I’m a douche, babe. You think I’m amazing.”

I shake my head. “Ego, much?”

We park the car, but before I move to get out he leans over to kiss me. “You have no idea how much I’m going to just miss being around you.”

I swallow.

I do know, because I’m going to miss him too.

We get out of the car, he grabs his bag, and we walk inside. He has his hat and sunglasses on, but I know he’s going to have to take them off when we get inside. When I can’t go in any further, we come to a standstill.

“I’ll see you soon,” he says, as I grab him and hold on to him tightly. “And I’ll call you the second I land.”

“Okay,” I say into his t-shirt.

A lingering kiss, and then he’s gone.



*****

“I can’t believe this shit,” Tara mutters, looking like she wants to punch someone. Most probably Ben. “That slimy, fake bastard. A kid? Really? He had the best woman in the world at home and he’s off fucking someone else? Did he even want kids?”