Finding London by Ellie Wade (uplifting book club books .TXT) 📕

“Admit it!” Loïc tickles my sides until they ache, but I refuse to give in.

Tears of laughter fall down my face, and I gasp, “Stop! Stop!” I kick my bare legs, trying to buck a naked and extremely sexy Loïc off of me.

“Nope, not until you admit that you are a stubborn woman.” His fingers work their way up to my underarms.

I can’t stand underarm tickles. To me, it is the cruelest type of torment.

“Okay! You’re right!” I laugh.

He stops tickling me, and I catch my breath. My chest expands as it recovers.

“Right about what?” He quirks up a brow.

I exhale. “You are right. It was an amazing day out in nature,” I say the word like it’s poison.

“And?”

“And I had fun! You happy? You win. Okay?” I stick my tongue out at him.

He chuckles and rolls off of me until we are lying side by side in my bed.

In reality, I had an incredible day. The warm autumn weather made it a perfect day to walk through the woods. And Loïc was right. The apples in the store do not even compare to the deliciousness of a crisp apple straight from the tree. Though I’m trying to fight him, he’s turning me into an outdoorsy girl.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit much. I’m not going to subscribe to Field & Stream magazine anytime soon, but I will admit that some outdoor activities are fun…enough.

But I love to rile him up. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.

“I hate when you tickle me. That’s a weak form of torture,” I huff out, my sides still tingling from where his fingers just were.

“No, you don’t,” he answers lazily.

“Um, yes, I do,” I respond with a slight attitude.

He turns to his side and props his head up with his arm. His blue eyes squint, assessing me. “What did I say to you right before I tickled you?”

“I don’t remember.” I shrug.

“Stop being a hard-ass for two seconds, London. What did I say?” He shakes his head in disbelief with a huge grin on his handsome face.

“You said that if I didn’t tell you the truth, you were going to tickle me.” I sulk.

“Exactly.”

“Exactly what?”

“I gave you an out. You didn’t take it, so you wanted me to tickle you. I got your number, oh spoiled one.” A cocky expression graces his face and, damn it, if that look isn’t gorgeous on him, too.

I laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous for you.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” I tease right before he bends and takes my exposed nipple into his mouth. The sudden pull startles me, and I yell out.

He releases it just as suddenly and plants light kisses up my chest, across my collarbone, and up my neck. I hum with contentment as his lips caress my skin.

He sucks on the sensitive skin of my neck for a minute before he leans over my face. His fingers run through my hair as his eyes take me in.

“So, today was good enough for you?” His lips press into a line as he tries not to smile.

“Yes, I will allow today to be counted toward the month and three weeks I have left with you.”

“Well, I’m glad because I don’t know what I would do if it wasn’t good enough.” He chuckles.

“Try extra hard tomorrow,” I quip.

He shakes his head. “You’re kind of insane.”

“Insane for you.”

His head falls back in laughter, and the sound is so beautiful. “What did I do before you?”

“I have no idea.”

He runs his thumb across my temple, his face serious. “I spy with my little eye someone who’s so beautiful that it hurts, someone so caring that she was able to break down my solid walls, and someone with ridiculous flaws that perfectly complement my craziness.” A slow smile forms on his lips, lighting up his eyes.

“You know, growing up, I held on to this dream of London being this magical place where I would eventually go. It was going to be the place that would save me and shelter me from all the evil in the world. I knew that, when I got there, I would be happy. I would be safe. My dream of London helped me get through some of the darkest times in my life. I knew that I could endure anything because, soon, I would get to London, and all the bad would be replaced with nothing but goodness.” He pauses, taking me in with such reverence that my heart twists.

“Along the way, I lost some hope. I started to believe that maybe this miraculous place wasn’t meant for me, that I would never get there. I would never be rescued. I would never be happy.

“Then, I met you, London. You refused to give up on me. You fought for me time and time again when I was nothing but cruel. Somehow, you saw something in me that even I couldn’t see. You saw worth. You made me believe in myself, so I could believe in us.

“You are my London, my safe place. You rescued me, made me happy. You are so much more than the woman I love. You are my entire destination. Wherever you are is where I’m meant to be. I was never meant to make it to some fantastical place overseas, made up from a little boy’s imagination. My entire journey has been steering me toward you. It has always been you.”

His blue-eyed gaze captures mine. My heart, full of gratitude, pounds beneath my chest.

“I don’t even know how to respond to that,” I choke out. “Those are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard in my life.” Tears fall from my eyes. “I love you, Loïc, so much. This”—I bring my finger between his chest and mine—“is meant to be. We are meant to be. I know it. I know we’ll make it, no matter what happens.”

“No matter what,” he echoes my thoughts.

He brings his lips to mine and thoroughly kisses me. Yes, this day definitely counts…in a big way.

Dueling emotions swell beneath my chest. I have never been so amazingly happy in love before, and at the same time, I’ve never been more scared. Maybe that’s what love truly is—complete and utter loss of control, your heart beating outside of your chest, fragile and open.

With real love comes unyielding fear because, when you really love someone, you never want to know what it feels like to be without that person.

But maybe that’s what makes love so great. The risk is so worth it because you know what it’s like to have that all-encompassing love. True love brings the knowledge that you’re one of the lucky ones because not everyone gets this.

I know I’m so fortunate to have Loïc in my life, and I’m not going to take a second of it for granted.

I’m going to face the fear head-on. It’s the presence of fear that means the love is worth fighting for.

We’re going to make it, Loïc and me.

Of this, I am certain.