“Yeah, you’re a juicy little marshmallow, all right.”

“yeah. It's amazing. And when I'm not so damn hard I want to explode, I'm going to lick it all over. But right now there are other parts of you I want to lick”

“I know.” He leaned in and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “And you can try and pretend it’s okay. That you’re strong and tough and you don’t need anyone. That you didn’t need her. But that’s all bullshit. I know it, and you know it.”Savannah stared at Cole.“You’re so pushy. I told you my story. Why can’t you leave it alone?”“Have you ever dealt with it?”She’d spent so many years holding it all inside.“I’m here right now, aren’t I? I obviously dealt with my past.”“I’m not talking about surviving it. Yeah, you survived it. But you haven’t let go of it.” He rubbed her arm. “What she did to you mattered. It wasn’t fair.”He was wrong. She was fine. It didn’t matter. She had always shown everyone how strong she was.“Show me how you feel, Peaches.”Her bottom lip trembled. She got up, walked to the window to look outside, staring at the darkness, not really seeing anything but the years falling away, stripping away the cool, confident woman she was now, revealing the scared little girl she once was. She’d vowed to never go back to that place, to never revisit those feelings again, yet here she stood.Cole wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened.“It’s okay to be vulnerable, Savannah, to let someone see you scared.”“I’m not scared. Not anymore.”

“She leaned against him, listening to his strong heartbeat as they cuddled together.Maybe he didn’t say all the right things, and maybe he didn’t do it all in the right way, but he was hers, and she was his, and they’d figure it all out together. Because she knew now that both of them were in this for the long haul, and that he’d be there for her no matter what.And that’s what counted the most.”

“I think you’re worth fighting for, Elizabeth. Even if I’m fighting you for you.”

“I love you, asshole."Then Gavin laughed. "Right back at you, dickhead.”

“Elizabeth lifted her head and glared at him. “I don’t want you to take me home. You’re fired.”“So you told me. I’m taking you home anyway. You can fire me again when we get there.”“Okay.” Her head dropped to his shoulder, and she was blissfully quiet on the ride home.”