I take another step until our bodies are flush against each other.
“Is that really what you think?” I ask, barely above a whisper.
She doesn’t answer. Her silence is enough.
“Meadow, I need you to listen to me,” I add, my voice shaking now. “I didn’t want to do it. I swear.”
“I know.”
“I saw your face,” I mutter. “I knew it was hurting you. And I still did it because I panicked,” I admit. “Everyone was watching, and I didn’t want to make a scene, and I was so fucking stupid. But the second I saw you walk away… I knew I fucked up.”
My breath mingles with hers as she reaches up and runs her fingers against my stubbled jaw.
“Owen… it wasn’t about the garter. That was never it.”
“I know,” I mutter, my lips brushing hers with every word. “But I want you to know how sorry I am. I don’t need you to try to fit into my world. I don’t want you to be anyone but yourself.”
She leans into me, sliding her fingers up the nape of my neck and into my hair.
“All I want is you,” I croak. “I’m not walking away from you. Meadow… I—Meadow, I love—”
Her body freezes as I watch her mentally withdraw.
“No.” She shakes her head quickly, like she can’t bear to hear the next word. “Don’t say it.”
I’m not stopping this time.
Over my dead fucking body.
Not when she needs to hear this. She needs to know exactly how much she means to me.
“I’m not letting you push me away,” I retort, my voice rough, breaking at the edges.
“I love you, Meadow Riley. And I don’t just love you as a friend—I’minlove with you.” My chest constricts as my vision blurs. “I love you so damn much it hurts.”
The second the confession leaves my lips, the world tilts. Her face contorts with fear as fight-or-flight takes over her body.
“I… I need to breathe,” she rushes out, her voice small and uneven as her eyes dart everywhere but at me. “I need to think. I can’t… I can’t do this right now.”
She quickly steps back, her hands slipping from my body as if I’ve burned her.
“Meadow, wait.”
But she’s already retreating.
Heavy tears pour down her face as her breath comes faster, panic creeping in.
“I—I need to go back to the room,” she says under her breath, barely able to get the words out. “Please… just give me a little time.”
Her defeated eyes finally meet mine, and that’s what destroys me. She looks… done.
“Please, Owen. I just need some time. At least give me that.”
Every instinct in my body screams to go after her.
To pull her to me.
To grab her face and kiss the doubt and insecurity out of her.
