But as my fingers close around the neck of the bottle, Chance’s hand covers mine.
A warm thrill works through my body. I ignore the feeling and snatch my hand back, dislodging his hold a bit. Disquiet falls over everyone as they glance in our direction.
My first instinct is to play it off, but I pause that thought. This is the best time to break things off, now we have everyone’s attention organically.
“You always do that,” I whisper harshly.
“Do what?” His brows pull together.
“Always butting into my business with your fake chivalry.” Chance looks confused. I almost sigh with exasperation. “You know, controlling me. I can’t do this anymore.”
He gets it then and his eyes spark with understanding. “Maddie, calm down. We can talk about it.”
“No, no way! I’m done. It’s over. We’re through.”
I start to rise, but he catches my arm.
“You can’t mean that?”
The dinner table is so quiet I can hear my heartbeat. I search Chance’s eyes. What is he doing? This is the part where he says ‘Go if you want, I don’t give a fuck.’ But his soft, pleading gaze is nearly breaking me.
“I do. I can’t be with you anymore. I’ve got to move on.”
His jaw trembles. Is he hurt?
I force myself up. If I don’t, I’ll probably take my words back and that’s far from the plan.
He rises with me and blocks my path. “I know you have to do this.”
“We,” I bite out, looking up into his hurt eyes. “We…”agreed. Why is he making this so hard?
“I made mistakes. I lied—”
“That’s not what this is about,” I bite out. “Just let me go.”
“No.” He holds my arms in a firm grip and pets the spots where the men manhandled me with gentle thumbs.
Tears cloud my eyes at his tenderness. “Why are you doing this?”
“You have to know.” His voice is tight. “I never meant to hurt you. I messed up and I cannot take it back at this point, but I—” He exhales and shuts his eyes tightly before meeting mine again. “I want you to know that you’ve changed me for the better. It was a reckless decision… Trying to control you in the beginning. That wasn’t fair and I’ll always regret that. But since the moment I saw you struggling in the elevator…”
A sob breaks from my throat and a tear runs down my face.
“In your adorable non-dress and your scared eyes, I knew I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to fix everything that goes wrong around you. I don’t know why.” He runs a tender finger down my cheek. “It’s what I’ve lived for every moment of the past three weeks. It’s brought me more satisfaction than I’ve ever felt.”
He pulls in a breath. “And I wish there was a better ending to this time with you. But I guess my fuckups were too much to forgive. Too grievous to let go.”
No.My heart breaks, over and over.I want you. For real.Please.
“So I have to let you go.”
I drop my gaze, unable to bear the hurt look in his eyes.
“I’ve lost you,” he chokes out. “I have to regret that I did all the wrong things and made that happen, but it’s okay. I’ll hold this time in my heart forever.”
He cups my cheek and presses a kiss on my forehead.
My body shakes as I cry, pressing my face against his chest. He hugs me tightly and works his hand into my hair as if he can hold me there forever.
