Echoes of Us

by Aaron McLean

Because love isn’t just soft kisses and whisperings of “I love you.” It’s teeth sinking into lips, fingers tangled in hair, a breathless “don’t stop.” It’s obsession and surrender, the slow burn that leaves you aching and the wildfire that consumes you whole. It’s the way a single look can make your skin tingle, the way someone’s voice can wreck you in all the right ways. Love is messy, wild, and unapologetically raw—and I fucking live for it.

want you to believe in the kind of love that stops time. The kind that crashes into you when you least expect it, leaving you breathless, shaken, and undeniably his or hers. That’s fate, sweetheart. And when it finds you? Let it consume you. Let it ruin you. Let it own you.

Women chased after him, but he never let anyone catch him. He played the game well, knew exactly what to say, when to touch, when to pull away just enough to leave them wanting more. He could be reckless, intoxicating, impossible to resist—but never cruel.

He’d flirt with your sister, steal your girl for a dance, and then turn around and help your grandmother carry her bags to the car.

He wanted love—the kind of love that seeped into his soul, settled into his bones, and felt like home. The kind that wasn’t rushed, wasn’t reckless, but slow-burning and certain. The kind of love that wrapped around you like a warm breeze on a summer night, steady and unshakable.

Someone who would love him not for the chase, not for the thrill, but for the man he was in the moments no one else saw.

Every kiss, every touch, every tangled sheet between them would be a promise—one he’d never break.

“Maybe some people aren’t meant to be ‘your person,’ Mallory. Maybe they’re just meant to be part of your story.”

His face, still sharp and defined, carried the echoes of

a man who had lived a little too recklessly in his younger years—late nights, whiskey-soaked promises, and a reputation that had made him both infamous and irresistible.

"Man, you look like you just seen a ghost."

He had. And she was more real than ever.

Trevor had always been safe. Chase has always been wildfire.

"I know you, Savannah. I know every tell you have. And right now? Your pulse is racing, your breath is coming too fast, and you’re gripping that railing like it’s the only thing keeping you from grabbing me."

“Listen to the wind—the way it brushes against your skin,”

continued. “Listen to the water drifting to shore. The way the seagrass rustles in the salt air. Now—listen to your heart. The rhythm of it. The way it moves with the tide.”

“Savannah, this place—this dock—it’s the echoes of us.”

“My first?" A brief pause, "Well, my favorite place is wherever you are.”

mistake—his lips were on hers.

It wasn’t tentative. It wasn’t cautious. It was everything unsaid, everything missed, everything they had both been too stubborn to admit.

Chase Montgomery was never safe.

He was wild oceans and crashing waves. He was lightning in the middle of a summer storm. He was

everything that made her heart race and ...

She didn’t want safe anymore. She wanted him.

“I never settled down because no one was ever you.”

“I never chose you, Chase,” she whispered, emotion thick in her throat, “because if I did, there would be no going back. You were never just someone I could love and then walk away from. You

were… everything. And that scared the hell out of me.”

Chase pulled her against him, crashing his lips to hers in a way that told her—no more running, no more regrets, no more what-ifs. This time, she was his. And this time, she wasn’t letting go.

The warmth of his lips still lingered, tingling against her own like a ghost of something unfinished.

Chase Montgomery kissed her like he was afraid she would disappear.

It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t desperate. It was something infinitely more dangerous. It was a promise. She knew this wasn’t just a rekindled spark. It was a wildfire. And she was already burning.

"You don’t get it, Savannah." His hands slid up her sides, possessive, firm, making her pulse hammer. "I won’t stop. I’ll ruin you for anyone else. You’ll be mine."

"I already am."

The kiss was a promise, a threat, a fucking warning all at once.

She wasn’t just getting lost in the adventure. She was getting lost in him. And she didn’t want to be found.

She was already home. And it was him.

to grip her hands, forcing her to look at her. "Babe, love isn't safe. It’s messy, and terrifying, and it asks you to take risks. But it's also the best thing you'll ever have."

"Home isn’t a place, Savannah. It’s in the way you laugh, the way you dream, the way you love. It’s every moment we’ve ever had and every one still waiting for us."

So I’ll leave you with this— Love is hard. Love is impossible. Love will wreck you. It will break you.

It will make you question everything you thought you knew. But if you’re lucky— If you fight for it, if you choose it, if you don’t let go— Love will put you back together. Love is forever. Love is this.