Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 57139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57139 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“I went back to my room that night, depressed as hell, scrolling comments with a bottle of pills sitting next to me. And then…I saw one. Just one. A comment from someone who said she was rooting for me.
“I clicked. Which I rarely did. And I found her weird little channel with five followers—one of them being a cat. I still don’t know how that cat managed it, but later I found out the cat was named Blue. Her grandmother’s.
“But the point is—she was smiling. She was happy. In college, broke as hell, with a camera that barely worked, and she was still radiating light.
“And that comment? It saved me. That smile? Saved me. I was ready to stop fighting that night. She made me fight one more day.
“So Harper…” His voice cracked. He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes shining. “…I may not have been your ex. But I’ve always been your best friend. And you—you’ve only ever been my savior. The one person who saw me. Who encouraged me. Who saved my life.”
I pressed my fist to my mouth, heart pounding so hard it hurt.
Ezra dragged in a shaky breath, eyes boring into the camera like it was me. Like it had only ever been me.
“So no,” he said, voice rough but steady, “I’m not the one that got away. I’m the one that’s staying. If you’ll have me.”
That was it.
The dam broke.
Hot, ugly sobs ripped through me before I could stop them. My phone blurred, his face swimming on the screen through tears I couldn’t blink away.
He wasn’t here. He wasn’t in front of me to joke or deflect or pull me into his chest like he always did. He was out there, live, vulnerable, tearing himself open for the entire world—and for me. Always for me.
And all I could do was sit there, clutching my phone to my chest, and cry.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
EZRA
It’s only ever been you. No one else would understand my Sky High quotes mixed with a little Deep Space Nine lore. You get me. And in return, I swear I’ll go where no man has gone before, and claim your heart forever.
—Ezra
Iended the livestream in tears. I wasn’t sure how long I stared at my laptop—long enough to hear the door crack open. Long enough to hear footsteps cross the floor.
Long enough for a girl who smelled like fresh flowers and chaos to climb into my lap, hit Live again, and whisper, “Can I stay too?”
I kissed her then. Hard. For the entire world to see.
I kissed her and finally let every secret go—not just my identity, not just the why, but the hiding. I was done hiding. Because I’d healed enough to be found, all because I fell in love with my best friend. All because she’d told me once that it was going to be okay.
“Kinda stalker-ish, though,” Harper murmured when she pulled back.
I smacked her ass. “I meant to say ‘thank you’. That’s why I approached you in the first place. Then you threw your ice cream in my face, apologized, asked if I liked vanilla, called me a psychopath for saying cookie dough—and, well, it just snowballed from there.”
She sighed, smiling. “I liked your glasses.”
I rolled my eyes. “No prescription, I was totally using them as a disguise and I need glasses, Harper. You know this. I was blind as a bat. Honestly surprised I even found you.”
“See? Stalker.” She kissed me again.
“Or winner,” I countered. “Right? Maybe we let the fans decide. Oh—also, your grandma’s flying to Italy. This was all part of her elaborate evil plan to get us together. Sorry for lying.”
Harper shook her head, still smiling. “Took a while to get the truth. Wonder what the network’s going to do?”
Our phones buzzed like grenades about to blow.
“Ratings are ratings,” I shrugged. “Besides, we owe the world nothing. Some things are meant to be private. This isn’t OnlyFans.”
Her gasp was dramatic enough to win an award. “The gall!”
I pounded the kitchen table. “The outrage! Imagine—a couple doing OnlyFans. Well, no hate, some people make good money. I, too, have considered buying toenails from other countries.”
She made a face. “Don’t people sell hair too?”
“People have emotional ties to things. I mean, I love my rock collection.”
“Cute,” Harper said, patting my head.
“Don’t patronize me.”
She hugged me tighter. “Okay, Ezra. Time to stop playing with your toys and come to bed with me. I have a fantasy to act out, and I’m in need of a hero.”
I pulled off my glasses. “Say less.”
Harper leaned into the laptop camera. “That’s all for today, but please look forward to more content as our adventures in dating, love, and apparently rockhounding continue.”
Ezra winked. “To explore where no man has gone before…Ezra, out!”
EPILOGUE
HARPER
Ezra
There was one yogurt left. I ate it but I replaced it because I felt guilty, I just thought you should know so you don’t yell at me when the new one isn’t past the expiration date, God forbid you eat food before it spoils.