Paper Bride ✔️ (Book 4 - DP Series - COMPLETE)

35. No Regrets

"What's that?" Seth asks as he takes another bite and then lifts his head to watch me as he chews.

"Parkour."

"Really?" His forehead crease as he shoots me a thoughtful look. I just nod in response before taking another bite.

"Heck, yes," I mumble around another bite of food. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted to do parkour before?"

"Oh, no," he says with a grin. "I've definitely wanted to. I just never considered that you'd want to try."

I give him a deadpanned look, my next bite frozen in midair as I halt my fork's movement towards my mouth.

"Do you know me at all?" I ask in disbelief. I shake my head in mock disappointment and then chomp down on another fork full of meatloaf.

"Fine," Seth concedes. "Let's go."

I choke.

"What?" I gape at him, unblinking. "Like, right now?"

"No," he says, giving me a blank look. "In two months." Now he's the one shaking his head in disappointment. "Of course right now. I know you well enough that if I actually tried to 'plan' this moment, you'd have a conniption. So," he says, shoving his last bite into his mouth as he stands, "let's go now."

"But..." I glance out the window, my fork still in hand as Seth goes to clear my plate. I've still got two bites left, and I'm quickly jerked out of my stupor as I jab my fork into the last couple bites of meatloaf while Seth pulls the dish away. I shoot him a victory smirk as I shove both bites into my mouth at once.

Seth has never been the real spontaneous type. Sure, he has his moments when he surprises me, but never like this. This is a huge deal. I mean, we could get arrested. But, he seems to want to please me, and I don't have any intention of stopping him.

I hear him put the plates in the sink, and then he's exiting the kitchen and snatching his keys up from the opposite end of the dining room table.

"Ready?" he asks, moving towards the front door to slip on his shoes.

"Uh..." I glance down at my paint-covered jeans and wince. "Hold on."

With quick movements, I scurry into the bedroom and search for the most flexible pair of yoga pants I can find. I need to be able to move easily if I'm going to be jumping rooftops tonight. Wasting little time, I dress and throw my hair into a sloppy bun before exiting the room.

Seth's already in his truck by the time I'm done, and I fling myself out the front door as if I'm being chased by zombies. I can't even explain the level of excitement I'm feeling right now. I've never been more anxious and electrified about anything in my life. This is going to be the most exhilarating thing on the planet. I know it.

Twenty minutes later, I realize just how wrong I was.

Sure, parkour might be amazing... if you live in the right place for it. Like, maybe a city where all the buildings are close enough to make jumping from one to the next a possibility. I happen to live in a hick town in Illinois where homes are typically miles from each other. Even in town, people tend to like their privacy and strive to have several meters between them and their neighbors.

Downtown is the only place where some of the buildings attach... but that's the problem. They're all attached. You can't jump from building to building because they're all one building. So, ditching the idea of living on the edge and risking our lives for a moment of carefree fun, Seth and I find ourselves sitting on a fire escape as we watch the stars.

Truthfully, I'd wanted to take part in something slightly more blood-pumping, but sitting next to the man I love as we gaze peacefully at the sky is definitely not worth complaining about.

"Can I ask you a question?" I say after several minutes of quiet.

Seth glances at me, a glimmer in his eyes as he searches my face. Then he nods as he mutters a soft "sure."

"Do you ever regret not pursuing your dreams?"

It's a question that I've pondered many times over the last five years. I've always known the massive sacrifice Seth made by choosing me over his passion, but for some reason, I'd never bothered to question him on it... until now.

I can see that he's working out the proper way to answer my question. His eyes are no longer pointed in my direction as he gazes into the distance. He watches the headlights of a car until it passes and then diverts his eyes upwards at the moon. I don't push him to answer because I need him to figure out his response first.

He takes a deep breath and then leans his back against the rails of the fire escape as he turns to focus on me again.

"No."

That's it. That's all he says, and normally I wouldn't believe him, but the fact that he took such precious time conjuring up that response tells me that there's truth in it. He didn't just spout the first answer he could come up with.

"You don't regret it?" I ask again, just to make sure.

"No," he verifies. "I could never regret major life decisions because every experience I've been through has taught me something valuable. I refuse to focus on the what-ifs because I'd hate to be a bitter man who feels cheated." He glances up at the sky again. "Sure, I would have loved to pursue my dreams, and occasionally I think of what my life might be like now if we'd chosen a different route, but that doesn't mean I regret this life. I could never regret this life."

"Really?" I question, slowly losing faith in his ability to be honest. "You have no regrets?"

We're both sitting side-by-side, our shoulders brushing every once in a while, and as Seth speaks I can almost feel the heat radiating from the skin beneath his shirt. He leans into me slightly, and my body grows stiff and anxious with the contact.

"I didn't say that," he counters, finding my gaze again before letting his eyes wander toward the stars. "I have numerous regrets—countless regrets, actually. Things that I wish I could take back and redo. But, you didn't ask me if I had regrets; you asked if I regretted not pursuing my dream. That's basically like asking if I regret my life. And the answer is still no. I don't regret my life, but I do regret some of the things I've done in my life."

"Like what?"

He turns towards me, resting his forearms on his knees as he watches me intensely.

"You," he answers in an almost hoarse whisper.

I'm speechless as my lungs fight to pull in air. I'd wanted honesty, but never expected cruelty. I glance down at my Converse-covered feet as my fingers pick aimlessly at the invisible lint on my pants.

"You regret me?" I ask softly, fearful that he's going to crush my spirit even more than he already has.

"No," he says. "Never."

I feel the air rush from my body as relief fills me like a waterfall into an empty pond.

"I could never regret you," he clarifies. "But I have regretted things I've done to you. Or things I should have done."

The blood beneath my chest begins to pump hotter, and I wonder if I've got flames slithering through my veins. As Seth vocalizes his thoughts, he turns to face me, a fierceness in his eyes that has my blood boiling. There's something vulnerable written on his face—an openness that I'm dying to submerge myself in. So, I do, by asking the only question that I can think to ask.

"And what should you have done?" I inquire, my words floating into the air between us without any permission from my brain. I just can't seem to get my body under control though, and as my eyes focus unabashedly on Seth's mouth, I watch a playful smile come to life on his lips.

"This," he says, his voice deep and husky.

And before I can even gather what's happening, Seth's lips are on mine. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. The unexpectedness of the kiss has me reeling with shock, but the tenderness and passion flowing from Seth's touch has my body responding with an urgency. It's absolutely toe-curling and divine. There's so much heat zipping between us that I could almost swear he's kissing flames into my bloodstream.

If the scorching bliss searing my blood vessels together happened to actually kill me right here, and right now, I'd die a happy woman.