Don't Forget Me Tomorrow (Time River, #2)

by A.L. Jackson

“How I’m supposed to keep my hands off you in front of your family and this town is beyond me. Now that I’ve touched you, Dakota, it’s the only thing I want to do.”

“You’re everything, Dakota Cooper. The most important thing in this world. Whatever happens, promise me that you won’t forget that.”

Because he understood the feeling that had taken him over. What had been simmering in him for years. He was in love with Dakota Cooper.

“Of course, he’s in love with you, Dakota. If I had to make bets about it, I’d say he’s been for a long, long time.”

“Like I just stumbled into paradise. Heaven. Except it’s more than that, Dakota. It’s like I’m coming home for the first time after I’ve been missing for an eternity.”

“That’s what you are, Cookie. Home. You’ve always been my safe place. The place my heart was called to. The only place I wanted to be. Sitting in that tree with you.”

Our bodies as in sync as the thrashing of our hearts. And I fell completely into him. Lost in his darkness.

“Tiny Tornado. The perfect kind of havoc in my life. I’m going to do everything in my power to do right by you. By your mom. I love you more than should be possible. With the kind of love that doesn’t exist. Not until the two of you created it.”

I ran across the porch and down the pathway. Ryder followed, gritting his teeth against the pain. His presence big. Profound. Horrible. Perfect. My love. My demise.

“You can accept it, Dakota. Because I want to give you everything you deserve in this world. I want to watch you soar. Fly. Take hold of every dream you’ve ever wished. And I want to be worthy of watching you do it.”

tongue. “I guess he and I were inevitable.”

Meet me in the place of the forgotten.

“You’re the light breaking inside me, Dakota Cooper. You were the one who taught me what goodness meant. Can you forgive me? Can you look at me and see the man who wants to live for you? Because I choose you, Dakota, and I’m praying you can choose me back.”

“My heart made its pick a long, long time ago, and now, after everything, I’ve never been so sure. It’s you, Ryder. It’s always been you. And I see it now—everything you did—your mistakes and your hopes. Your failures and your love. I forgive you because I see you, Ryder—I see you through all of it, and I know your heart is beautiful despite everything that you’ve done.”

“Cookie,” he murmured, his thumbs tracing my cheeks. “I love you, and I’m going to for the rest of my days. For as long as these stars shine above us. And I promise you, I won’t ever give you a reason to question that again.”

“I don’t need everything, Ryder. I just need your honesty. I need your truth. Your devotion and your love.” “You have it, Dakota.” His thumb swiped over my bottom lip. “Love is on the house.”

“My love for you was a secret for too long. Hidden in the shadows. But your love was big enough and bright enough for the both of us that it never could burn out. Because of it, I will forever burn for you. For so long, I’ve wanted to shout my love for you from the roof of every building in this town. And I figured there is no better place to start than right here, in front of our friends and family, in this place that you built out of your love and devotion and dreams.”

“I love you, Cookie, and I want to share all those things with you. This love. This devotion. Every dream we could ever conjure. I want us to chase them together. Today, tomorrow, and always. Be my wife. My partner. The one who believes in me as much as I believe in you. Because I want to share every single day with you.”