That space between us had come alive. The way it always did when she was near. Though this time—this time it throbbed with devotion. With something that sang with permanence and loyalty. The kind of hope I’d been too terrified to allow myself to feel.

I stood from my seat at the piano with my family standing around me.

There with their unwavering support.

My head spun.

My heart a goddamned riot when I saw Alexis running down the aisle.

Coming for me.

I moved to the end of the stage and jumped off just as she reached the end.

I swept her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

God, how could anything feel so good?

So perfect.

Overcome, I swung her round and round while I held her against me.

That sweetness filled my senses like a drug.

Good and pure.

Slowly, I let her slide down my body. I cupped the side of her face, and my thumb brushed beneath the hollow of her eye.

My heart forever in her hands. “Starshine.”

* * *

I stared down at her through the pale light that drifted in through the windows that overlooked the city. Right after the concert, I’d brought her here.

Needing her alone.

To feel her.

Touch her.

Make her all the promises only my body could say.

My strokes were slow and unhurried as I filled her.

Devout as I worshiped her in the shadows of my loft.

My hand was on her face and the other was twisted in her hair.

Her mouth parted as she clung to me.

We both came.

Silently.

Reverently.

For a few moments we both lay there gasping.

Our minds catching up to the moment our hearts had been racing for all along.

Slowly, I edged back, my thumb brushing the angle of her cheek. “I love you, Alexis Kensington.”

It was the first time I’d told her, and I was sure I’d never spoken a greater truth.

Love shined back at me, those deep blue eyes filled with faith. With the undying belief that had restored what had been lacking in me.

Fingertips fluttered up to caress my face. A whisper. A promise. “And I will always love you, Zachary Kennedy. Thank you for taking a chance on me. For trusting me to be around him.”

Shifting us both to our sides, I ran the pad of my thumb across her bottom lip. “It was never that I didn’t trust you, Alexis. It’s that I had to find a way to trust to myself. I had to finally come to the place where I was able to accept that I have something good to give, too. I’d been living in my own exile for so long, I’d thought it’d be some kind of sin for me to break out of it. But you…you showed me that life is for living.”

She lightly scratched her fingertips over the beard on my jaw. “And now you’re ready to live.”

“I’m so ready to live.”

Her voice softened in wonder and encouragement, that potent gaze searching my face. “What’s it like, having him with you now? How does it feel to be a dad?”

An affectionate sigh rippled into the dimness. “Realized I always knew something was missing, and I just didn’t know what it was. It feels like I finally found it—both Liam and you.”

She blinked, her tone deep with significance. “We can take it as slow as you need us to, Zee. I promise I won’t barge into his life.”

Liam had been all too happy when I’d asked him if it was okay if he spent the night at Baz and Shea’s tonight. I’d needed this time with Alexis. Time for us to talk. To lay it all out.

I was ready. No more questions.

I dipped down and brushed my lips over hers. “Not sure I know how to take things slow with you.”

She giggled. It traveled through me like a song. A song that rang with joy. With peace. “We aren’t very good with slow, are we?”

“Nah. Think it was our hearts that knew all along, pushing us toward where we belonged.”

Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip. “I think I knew the first time I saw you.”

I nuzzled her neck, letting myself grin through the happiness of it. The joy of finally believing.

Sobering, I pulled back, fidgeting with a lock of her hair. “I just…I have to have stability for him, Alexis. And if you want to be a part of his life, I have to know that you’re all in. Things are gonna be rough for a while with him. He’s doing well, dealing with the loss of his mom, but I know there are going to be difficult times ahead. And God…I don’t ever want you to question where I want you to be, because the only place I want you is with us.”

“What are you saying, Zee?”

It was almost a chuckle that slipped free. “Guess I’m giving you one last chance to run before I keep you forever.”

Moisture shimmered in her eyes. “The only running I’m going to be doing is to you.”

Relief took me whole.

Complete.

“I love you, Lex.”

She edged forward a fraction so her mouth could meet mine.

Fire.

Flames.

Freedom.

She took my hand with the star and pressed it to her lips, her voice a whisper against the skin. “You were everything I’d ever wished for. Before I even knew what that meant.”