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“I’d answer for you. Always and forever,” he promised, sounding sincere.
I looked at my hands and snorted. “Linc…”
“I would,” he promised.
And I believed him.
Really, I did.
But…
“If you really would answer any time that I called…why?” I asked in confusion. Then smacked my head with the heel of my hand. “Never mind. Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
I didn’t expect him to answer, but he did.
I didn’t expect to like the answer, either.
“Because, Conleigh Reins. I want to.” He paused. “And you’ve always meant more to me than just about anyone in this world.”
I felt my stomach somersault as I stared at him. “You left, though. You left. You told me that we weren’t ready.”
He looked at me for a long moment, and then shifted so that he was leaning forward and his face was so close that he could kiss me if he really wanted to.
I didn’t pull away from his closeness, and neither did he.
I just stared into those beautiful eyes that I’d never quite been strong enough to forget and waited for him to explain why he let us go. Oh, and hated myself for it.
I shouldn’t care why he left, or that anybody thought that I was having his baby when I wasn’t.
But I did care.
I cared if he was hurt. I cared if he got slammed by the media—again—for anything concerning me when it wasn’t true.
I just cared about him, and that wasn’t something I’d been able to stop feeling since he told me we couldn’t be an ‘us’ yet.
We’d barely gotten started—had gone nowhere beyond just friends really—when the night that would haunt me and my dating life to this day happened.Chapter 7Other people: gosh darn it. That hurt. Football players: motherfucking cocksucking asshole son of a douche, that fucking hurt.
-Linc to Conleigh
Linc
I knew exactly what she was thinking about without her having to say a word, because I was thinking about that night, too. The night that I told her we couldn’t be together. The night that I told her we could only be friends.
It’d been the night that I’d come home to visit my dad, needing some much-needed time away from football and all the bullshit that sometimes came with it. It was a massive party going on, and I’d just been made an official patched-in member of our a motorcycle club. Instead of celebrating like I should have been doing, I had a ginormous fight with Steel and my dad, and I wanted nothing more than to leave and not come back.
Well, at least for the night.
But Conleigh had told me she was on her way, and I told her to come up to my room when she got there, thinking I had time to get a shower and get cleaned up.
Only, she arrived a hell of a lot faster than I’d been expecting, and she’d walked in on me completely nude and sporting a massive erection that only came on when she was near.
We’d stared at each other so long that I’d half expected her to make the move I could see in her eyes.
I wanted her to.
She wanted to.
But then some commotion had come from the room next door, and we’d heard Steel’s voice through the thin walls, causing her to retreat.
I’d just slipped my pants on when my door was once again thrown back open and Steel had made his presence known.
“She’s not ready for you,” he’d growled.
And those had been the nicest words he’d uttered that day.
After making sure I was well versed in why I shouldn’t date Conleigh, my father had started in.
Then I’d gotten angry and acted out in frustration instead of the logical part of my brain that usually guided me.
After getting dressed, cut on my back that was sure to piss everyone off all over again, I’d walked straight up to Conleigh where she’d been hiding downstairs waiting for me, told her that I wanted her but couldn’t have her.
Her confusion had been apparent, but the longer I stayed to talk to her, the angrier that everyone got.
So, I left.
I’d left her.
But I’d also left myself.
Because I knew, without a doubt, that Conleigh was the one.
I wasn’t sure how I knew that. Wasn’t sure why. Wasn’t really even sure how it would ever be possible.
All I knew was that one day, the time would be right, and when that time was right, I’d be making my move.
“I know you hate me,” I murmured low. Soft. Barely loud enough that I wasn’t sure she could even hear me.
She pursed her lips. “That’s the problem, Linc. I’ve never been able to hate you. I’ve told myself that I should. But I don’t.”
***
Conleigh
I never could.
I’d tried very hard to accomplish that impossible feat, too.
I’d been mean to him. I’d ignored his calls. I’d avoided any and all interactions with the man…and look where that got me.
