Forever In Love Read Free Page A

waiting for the perfect moment.
    And this felt like the closest they were ever going to get to that perfect moment. There was no better reminder of the importance of love than having all her sisters happy around her, and she finally— finally— had no responsibilities left to compromise her own happiness.
    It had to be today.
    It had to be now.
    “I love you.”
    The three little words were out in a second, and in that second, Michael knew he’d been carrying his love for Emily around as a secret for far too long.
    Her eyes went wide, and even though her gasp was soft, he heard it.
    “I love you,” he said again. “I’ve loved you for years. And I think you care about me, too.”
    “Of course I care about you,” she said. “But—” She faltered, as if she couldn’t find the right words. “But you lived with us so long that you’re practically family.”
    “I’m not family,” Michael insisted. “I’m a man who loves you. A man who is standing here telling you that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you.” He gently cupped her cheek, stroking her soft skin with the pad of his thumb. “I know you feel the same way. We’ve both been dancing around this for so long.”
    “You know I don’t dance,” Emily said, obviously trying to diffuse the situation with humor, the way she’d done so many times in the past whenever they’d come dangerously close to this moment.
    She’d make a joke, or find something that urgently needed doing, or bring one of her sisters into the conversation. Anything to keep from acknowledging the truth. It was part of the reason he’d brought her up here in the first place. He’d not only wanted to take her away from those distractions, but he’d also wanted to show her that there wasn’t any reason to keep resorting to them.
    He moved closer, drawing her against him. “I love you,” he said again, intending to keep saying it over and over until she finally believed him. “I love everything about you, even your two left feet.”
    She was silent for a few seconds, and Michael held his breath. He knew he had to give her enough time to think through what she really felt, but he couldn’t help but pray she’d stop fighting her feelings for him, right here, right now.
    “Michael.” He’d watched her work with enough students over the years to know when she was using her counselor voice. She was obviously trying to let him down gently as she said, “I know how easy it is to get swept up in a day like today. You’ve seen everyone else pairing up, so you think that since we’re the last two left we’re going to hook up. But it doesn’t work like that. We aren’t going to get a happy-ever-after by default.”
    “No,” he agreed, “happy-ever-after happens when two people who care about one another finally admit it rather than continuing to steer clear of their attraction and love for each other the way they have for years.”
    Was it so hard for her to believe that he could feel this way? Had she really not noticed all those times he’d found excuses to come around the Walker house? Yes, he’d lived there as a teenager, and yes, he’d been like a brother to her sisters, but it had never been like that for him with Emily.
    “You’ve helped all your sisters to be that happy. Why not grab that happiness for yourself?”
    He swore he saw something flash in her eyes—something that looked like the love he was hoping she’d return. Too quickly, however, she forced it away. Tried to force him away, too, as she slid out of his arms.
    “It’s been a long day. An emotional day. But when you wake up tomorrow, you’re going to realize that you don’t love me, not really. You’re going to see that this was a mistake. And then we’ll both be glad that neither of us took this any further so that our friendship doesn’t have to suffer.”
    Michael worked hard to push back his frustration as he said, “I’ll always be your friend, Emily. But no matter what I