Revive Me: Part Three (New Haven #2)

by J.L. Seegars

and spend some time together.” It’s such a simple gesture. The act of listening, really listening, and using what you hear to make thoughtful decisions that ensure the person who communicated their needs to you feels heard. When we were in college, Chris didn’t always do a good job of that. Not because he wasn’t thoughtful, or didn’t listen, but because there was always a part of

him that felt like he knew what was best for the people he cared about.

“You’re not doing it alone. You’ve never gone up against him with me by your side, and I don’t lose, Chris.” I throw my leg over his, wrapping myself around him tight. “I’m a fucking winner, baby, which means you are too.”

I could go forever with her.

“Thank you for being my partner, princess.”

“I always knew that,” I clarify, catching the implication in her words. “The choices I made were never about not trusting or believing in you. You’re the most capable woman I know, Mallory. I just didn’t want to be yet another person you had to take care of. I wanted to be the one person in the world that takes care of you.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t be ashamed of the mistakes you’ve made because, for better or worse, they got us here. And here is good, it’s so fucking good, Chris, and we get to have it forever. We get to take care of each other for forever.”

love is a two-way street, a constant ebb and flow of energy and investment. Repeated instances of one person’s weaknesses coinciding with the other’s strengths. That’s what true partnership is, and I’m glad that out of all the things Mallory is, all the things she could be, my partner is one of them.

information. Mallory is quiet too, but her presence is loud. Her support screams at me, cheering me on, giving me strength, reminding me over and over again that I’m not alone. In this struggle. In this fight. In this life.

It’s the perfect recipe for destruction, a combination of fire and desire explicitly designed to pull me apart at the seams, which is how I’ve always preferred to come undone.

“I want to share everything with you, princess,” I whisper into her ear, letting the hidden meaning exist in the simple but all-encompassing word.

You’re mine, and I’m yours. Those are our vows, and they’re more than enough for me.”

“I’ve been running. Are you going to chase me?” “To the ends of this Earth,” he says, reminding me of conversation we had before he chased me through the forest in the mountains.

I want to tell him that he’s already marked me. That the first time we kissed, he left his fingerprints on my soul. That the first time we made love, he ruined me for everyone else.

this life, this love—is exactly what I needed.

There it is again. The purest kind of love, tinged with optimism and grand expectations people only have for the lives they brought into the world. A life they hoped, from the moment of conception, would be a good one filled with love and not pain.

“You’re every bit the man she hoped you be, Chris. I could see it in her eyes. How much she loves you, how damn proud she is of you.”

The truth is, monsters never need a reason to do horrific things, baby. It’s just their nature, and his nature is not yours.”

Those vows were made in my mother’s name, a direct result of me being too small, too powerless to help her when she needed it most.

“You don’t ever have to thank me, Sloane. Being your mama is one of my greatest honors.”

There’s no mistaking the certainty on his face or the love in his eyes, and I can’t even look at the diamond because all I see is him. All I see is the life promised to me years ago in a kiss I thought was nothing more than a reckless dare. My breath catches, and Chris laughs like he was fully expecting to have to say, “Breathe, princess.”

“There being twelve steps

to my plan to win you back.”

“There were always ...

This was always thirteen, but I want to be sure that you’re ready for it...

The promise of a once stolen future that has been reclaimed. The knowledge that, at any point in time, we could be more than what we already are to each other.

"There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do for you, Mallory Kent."

The smile she gives me and the love shining in her eyes make all the trouble worth it. And when she lifts up on her tiptoes, surging forward to kiss me, I know I'd endure it all again. Not just the hours in the kitchen with Mama or the bank account-draining trips to the grocery store, but the entirety of our history. Every hour spent together, every day spent apart. Every kiss we've shared and tear we've shed. Because all of it, every painful, beautiful moment, got us here.