He Kept Me Secret Seven Years, Then Proposed to Her novel · Chapter 32 of 32

Chapter 32: The Wall

I woke in the narrow bed with the lights still burning and my husband's arm across my ribs.

The window beside the bed faced the garden.

It was getting light.

From the pillow I could see the low stone wall, white with frost, and beyond it the roofline of my father's house.

A thin line of smoke rose from his chimney.

He had always been the first one up.

Miles was awake.

He lay with his eyes open, watching me, and he had the look of a man who had been doing it for some time.

"You're staring," I said.

"I'm checking."

"For what?"

"That you're still here."

"I'm in your bed, in your house, with my wedding ring on."

"I know. I'm checking anyway."

I turned over to face him.

His hair was flattened on one side, and the scar through his eyebrow was a thin white line in the early light.

I had been looking at that scar for twenty-four years.

I had never once told him what I felt when I looked at it.

"Miles."

"Mm."

"You said it first. You said it in a hospital corridor, and I answered by asking you to stay."

"You don't have to..."

"I know I don't." I put my hand on his jaw. "I've waited my whole life for someone to stay. I never said it because I thought if I said it first, I'd be the one asking."

His breathing changed.

"I love you," I said. "I'm saying it first. I loved you before I could spell it."

← Chapter 31 · All chapters

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend