Giving Up - Page 191

“Ugh,” he groans. “I need to admit something. I fucking hate dogs.”

“What?” I choke. “You’re a sociopath!”

He raises an eyebrow and I bite my lip to avoid laughing. “That still a surprise to you?”

I shake my head and smile at him. “You’re going to love her. Just like you love me.”

“I really do love you,” he huffs. “Way too fucking much.”

There’s a moment of silence, intense love traveling like electricity between us.

“So,” he finally says. “What’s her name?”

“I need to think about it.”

I get up, still crazy with excitement. The puppy is barking and jumping everywhere, grabbing some clothes that were left on the floor and rolling around in it.

“She’s so beautiful,” I whisper to myself.

“Just like you.” Jake grabs my hips and carries me until we both fall on the bed. He stays above me, caging me in.

“Maganda,” I say.

“What?” He pulls away and looks at me like I grew another head.

“Maganda,” I giggle. “That’s what I’m calling her. It means beautiful in Tagalog.”

“Maganda,” he tastes the word on his lips. “I like it. A lot actually.”

Woof!

“I think she likes it too,” I smile back. I grab her from the floor where she keeps trying to jump on the bed.

“You, me, and Maganda. I’m truly happy.” I admit. And I feel like this is something I hadn’t felt in forever.

“You, me, and that little puppy. Always,” he says, his ocean eyes sucking at my green ones. His darkness embracing mine. His lightness shining through despite everything.

After all, Jake and I, we just fit perfectly.

One broken piece at a time.

One shard after another.

They all fit.

“I can’t believe all I had to do was walk into your house and bully you into being my girlfriendagain,” he chuckles.

“Wow,” I deadpan. “I was actually starting to have nice thoughts about you…”

We laugh. It’s deep, loud,magical.

THE END