Page 134 of Hard Pass

“Yeah,” I say. “Because you can pretend this didn’t matter, but I’m not buying it.”

“The article though, I mean. We were in the wrong. I did cross lines. I—”

“We don’t hide from it, Dublin. Hiding makes it worse.”

“That’s not exactly how my world works.”

“Then we change how it works.”

She emits a small, disbelieving breath. “You make this all sound so easy.”

“It’s not,” I say. “Far from it, but neither is what you’re doing right now—swallowing your pride and taking it.”

“So you’re saying we act like none of this happened?”

I take another step forward. “No. All of this happened. You. Me. Us. All I mean is why act like we’re ashamed when we have no reason to be?”

“You’ll be forgiven. I won’t.”

“That’s why we do this together in all aspects. It’ll make someone look like a complete ass to overlook one of us and not the other when we’re both doing the exact same thing.”

“Together?”

“Yeah,” I say softer and reach up to cup her face and rub my thumb back and forth on her jawline. “Together. I meant what I said. I don’t regret a single moment we’ve spent with each other. What I regret is not getting more. What I’d regret is if we let this decide that there isn’t going to be more.”

Her breath hitches. “What are you saying?” she whispers.

I reach out and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She closes her eyes briefly and catches herself before she leans into my touch.

“You know whatever this is between us, is unique. Special. We waited five years to start it, right?”

Her lashes flutter as she looks up at me. “And hopefully worth all this fallout,” she jokes. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I am.” I lean in and brush a kiss against her lips and then rest my forehead to hers so my next inhale meets her last exhale. “Does us being together fix anything? No, but it sure as shit’s better knowing someone is fighting beside you.”

I feel her lips curve into a smile against mine. “This is no way for a fuckboy to act.”

I bark out a laugh and lean back so I can meet her eyes. “So long as mine’s not one of the broken hearts you leave behind.”

Her smile is slow and welcome and fills all the holes her tears caused.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Dublin

“This was a terrible idea,” I say quietly as I run my clammy palms down my pants.

Cole looks up from where he’s refilling my glass of wine, completely unfazed. “You’ve said that three times.”

“Because it’s true and you’re still not reacting to it.”

I angle my head toward the front windows of the restaurant, where the soft glow of candlelight reflected on polished glass does absolutely nothing to hide the reality happening outside of it.

There are people waiting out there with phones in hands and cameras at the ready. Paparazzi angling for the shot that’ll pay the most. Casual fans who stumbled upon the scene and decided to stay to clip a quick picture. Influencers hoping to turn my unraveling into something viral.

“Why do you need a reaction from me?” he asks, leaning back in his chair, and a ghost of a smile playing on his lips as he studies me. “The article is shit, yeah, but without it, I never would have been able to take you to a nice restaurant like this. We’d still be sneaking around. Takeout. Closed doors.” He waves his hand toward the windows. “So yeah, it’s a shitshow out there but it also gave us freedom we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

“Freedom?” I bark out a laugh. “More like thumbing our nose at everyone.”