It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

Chapter Twenty-One
Atlas
There have been a lot of things in my life that have made me angry, but
nothing filled me with rage like seeing Lily’s tattoo and the faded scars that
circled it in the shape of a bite mark.
How any man can do that to a woman, I’ll never understand. How any
human can do that to a human they’re supposed to love and want to protect, I
will never understand.
But what I do understand is that Lily deserves better. And I get to be the
one to give her better. Starting with this kiss that we can’t seem to stop. Every
time we pause to look at each other, we go right back to kissing like we have
to make up for all the lost time in this one kiss.
I trail kisses down her jaw until I meet her collarbone. I’ve always loved
kissing her there, but until I read her journal, I didn’t know she was aware of
how much I loved kissing her there. I press my lips to her tattoo, determined
to make sure she remembers the good parts of us in all the future kisses I’m
going to give her in this spot. If it takes a million kisses for her not to think
about the scars that surround her heart tattoo, then I’ll kiss her there a million
and one times.
I press kisses up her neck, then her jaw. When I’m looking at her again, I
slide the shoulder strap of her dress back in place because as much as I could
stay right here for hours, I’m supposed to be taking her to a wedding. “We
should go,” I whisper.
She nods, but I kiss her again. I can’t help it. I’ve been waiting for this
moment since I was a teenager.
I can’t really say how the wedding went because I was more focused on Lily
than anything else. I didn’t know anyone there, and after finally kissing Lily