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“I’ve never seen anyone stand up to him like you did. Everyone is always so afraid of him, of the power he has and what he can take away. But you . . . you’re so brave, Mara. Like a breath of fresh air after being stuck in that smoke-filled house. I’ve dealt with a lot of shit from my parents, but tonight it was different. Having you next to me was . . .” He trailed off as he seemed to search for the words. “I felt like I was braver just being near you.”
The confession shook the ground beneath my feet. Couldn’t he see what a mess I was? I wasn’t brave, I just knew how to fight hard enough to make it out of a battle, usually by the skin of my teeth. “Leo—” I started, but he cut me off as he took my hands in his.
“Thank you,” he said with so much emotion I thought we both might burst right here at this table.
I nearly jumped out of my own chair to wrap my arms around him, stopping myself with sheer will that was crumbling by the second. “You are literally the perfect man. I hope you find what makes you happy.” He looked up at the ceiling to let out a long breath, and I took the opportunity to pull my hands back from his and quickly wipe away a tear that spilled onto my cheek, hoping he wouldn’t notice. The last thing I wanted was for him to worry about my emotions on top of everything else.
He needed this moment. He deserved to be selfish with it. And I would make sure he understood what real support felt like.
The bartender swooped by to drop the basket of food in the middle of our table, and we both thanked him profusely before diving in. “I can’t believe you were engaged,” I eventually said between bites of fried chicken.
Leo groaned. “Worst mistake of my life was proposing to that woman,” he said through his own mouthful. “No, actually, my worst mistake was listening to my mother when she told me I’d never find anyone better.”
I scoffed. After a moment, I dared to ask, “What’s she like?”
Leo’s eyes snapped to mine with surprise. “Rebecca?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“She’s . . . beautiful. Smart. Her family is wealthy.” He shook his head. “Her father is the CEO of a huge tech conglomerate based out of San Francisco—that’s where they’re from. Rebecca was in New York for school, and we met at a Gala event that her father sent her to on his behalf. My dad’s been trying to break into the tech world for years—it’s probably why he’s so smitten with Tanner. When he realized who she was, he roped my mother in to do what she does best: meddle in my personal life. Next thing I knew, I was on a blind date with her.”
I took a long swig of my beer, feeling the carbonation burn down my throat. “What happened?”
“Rebecca can be very charming, and at first it was exactly that. While I didn’t love that it was my mother who set us up, I actually liked her. I proposed after six months, which seems much too soon in hindsight, but our families got along well and it felt like the right move for all aspects of my life. I thought she was a good life partner, and she was interested in supporting the business which made my father happy. But . . .” He took a deep breath, wiped at his hand with a napkin. He was stalling. “After I proposed, things became difficult. She spent a lot of money and always wanted more. She wanted a vacation home in the Hamptons, and I wanted a small cabin here in Colorado. She wanted to host extravagant parties, and I just wanted to shut myself away and take a break from all that high society bullshit. She wanted to summer in Greece and?—”
“Ugh.” I smacked my hand over my face. “The way rich people use ‘summer’ as a verb . . .”
Leo laughed, and it was a sound I craved to hear more of. “Point taken.” He smirked. “Anyway, I tried to share my music with her, but she wasn’t interested. Much like my parents, she thought it was a distraction from our real ambitions. Pressures from the business began ramping up as my father and I worked toward closing a huge deal—one that would have made the company millions. There was a big presentation I’d been working on for months, and it was in my hands to ultimately deliver.
“The morning of the meeting, I fucking crumbled. I . . . I don’t even know what happened. I woke up and felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore. It was like my brain shut down and I couldn’t even process a single thought, so I walked out of the boardroom only a few minutes after the meeting started. My father was furious, and when Rebecca found out she didn’t even ask if I was okay—she just threw a tantrum. Said I should have been stronger, that she needed me to be a real man. And that was it. I lost it. I ended things with her on the spot, packed a few bags and bailed. I came out here . . . and I haven’t talked to anyone since. Well, until now.”
I stared at Leo intently, mind swirling as I processed it all. “Wow,” I breathed. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Leo.” It was all I could say that didn’t include any of the anger I was feeling toward the people in his life. No wonder Leo struggled to see his dreams as valid.
No one had ever made him feel safe in pursuing them.
He looked resigned when he said, “Yeah, well. It’s all in the past.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not. I mean, maybe Rebecca is. And good riddance.” I scoffed. “But, your parents, Leo. They aren’t healthy for you. Tonight was proof that they don’t deserve to have you in their lives, not if they’re going to treat you the way they do, like you’re just some resource for their benefit.” I suddenly felt like such an asshole for keeping my own parents at arm’s length these last couple of years. “Do you even like what you do for your father? Do you enjoy the work?”
Leo’s laugh was dry. “I wish I did. It would sure make things easier. But . . . no, I don’t. And I’m terrible at pretending I do—my father can always see right through my veiled attempts to please him.”
I laughed, and his eyes snapped to mine. “What do you mean, you’re terrible at pretending? You’ve been pretending about our year-long love affair since they got here—and it’s been pretty expert-level stuff,” I remarked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
Leo’s gaze drifted to my collarbone, where the delicate diamond necklace hung, before moving to my mouth. Something shifted behind his eyes as he considered, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. Eventually, his eyes caught mine again and he shrugged. “I guess some lies are easier than others.”
Warmth spread throughout my body at those words. At the way he was looking at me.
“Look,” he sighed. “We don’t have to keep doing this. I thought having an elaborate story about falling in love and buying Larkspur for you . . . for us . . . would help things. But clearly I was wrong, and you don’t deserve to be caught up in any of this.”
I straightened in my seat, feeling the shoulder strap of my dress strain from the movement. “Fuck that,” I retorted.
Leo’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Fuck that, Leo. I’m not bailing on any of this . . . not now. You think I’d be okay with just leaving you in the dust?”
“It wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” he explained earnestly. “You shouldn’t have to subject yourself to this . . . bullshit.”
“You shouldn’t either!” I exclaimed. “Do you anticipate your parents flying home early after how badly things went tonight?”
