Final Offer

Get drunk on life, not alcohol.

Love,

Lana

“I’m more than just a pretty face, Lana. I have a brain too.”

“Who lied to you and called you pretty?” She bats her lashes.

“You did…while I was between your legs with my tongue deep inside your needy cunt.”

Take that, you little witch.

She chokes on her breath. “God.”

“Please, no need to call me God outside of the bedroom. It gives me a complex.”

“Please can we do one, Cow-l? Pretty, pretty please.” Her bright eyes pierce through my resolve, tempting me to say yes.

“Ummm…”

She bats her lashes. “I’ll be your bestest friend ever.”

Don’t you dare fall for that.

“I made all of these with your mom.” Hopefully that will answer any lingering questions she might have.

Anything for you, he said when he broke his arm trying to get my kite out of a tree.

Anything for you, he grumbled after picking me up early from my very first date with Pete Darling, a jerk who didn’t quite live up to his last name.

Anything for you, he brokenly whispered after I made him promise to never come back to Lake Wisteria, knowing I wouldn’t be strong enough to resist him again, drugs and alcohol be damned.

Cal passes me his keys. “Anything for you.”

Three words. Five syllables. One punch to the gut.

I dare you to wait for me.

The real me.

The sober me.

The best me who wants to spend the rest of his days getting drunk on life with you.

I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re insane.”

“No, Lana, I’m in love. There’s a big difference.”

“What changed?”

“I did.” He grips on to the back of my neck and pulls me forward. “Staying sober is going to be a process. Thirty days in rehab is a good start, but it’s not an instant cure for a lifelong addiction. I’ll have to put in the work and commit to bettering myself every single day. I only hope you’re willing to share the journey with me, because God, I want you to. I know I don’t deserve another chance, but I’m begging you to give me one anyway. Just give me one last chance to show you that I can be the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. That I can be the one to turn your dreams into realities.”

“Break my heart again and I’ll put a bullet in you for real this time.”

He smiles against my mouth. “Be sure to aim for the heart then, because that’s the only way you’ll keep me away.”