Page 93 of Miss Typed

Her brow quirked. “About what?”

“About how I feel about you.”

“Why?”

“Because it turns out I’m a pussy.”

Her lips tipped up, causing my own to do the same.

“The shower, hell, all of our time together— It wasn’t just casual dating. It was more. And you deserve to know it was more. I just thought it would be easier to leave if I lied about it, not only to you, but to myself.”

“And is it? Easier to leave?”

I shook my head sadly. “No. But I still need to do it. I’ve been going through the motions since losing my leg and leaving the Marine Corps. This job here with the suit and tie, doing business dinners and attending meetings— It isn’t me. Every day I come into the office, I feel like I’m suffocating. On most days, you were the sunshine to my storm, but it’s still storming, and I have to figure out if I can change that. I don’t know who I am anymore.”

She sat there digesting my words. “Then you should go. Would’ve been easier if you’d been honest instead of trying to set me up with someone else, instead of pushing me away as if none of what had happened between us mattered. It was hurtful.”

“I’m sorry. It was stupid on my part. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Yes, you do. You were thinking I’d be happier with Matt. You were thinking it would be easier for you to leave if I was. Easier for you to feel sorry for yourself.”

I swallowed hard. “It’s my specialty. I’m broken, Chloe, and I don’t just mean my leg.”

She got up from her seat and stepped towards me. Once she was a breath away, I could see her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “I’ve never thought for a moment you were broken. But maybe returning to a combat zone will give you the closure you need.”

My hand touched her face, unable to help it. I caught her teardrop with a swipe of my thumb.

“I was afraid if I told you how I felt, you’d want to wait for me. And you can’t.” But, God, how I wanted her to.

“I realize that.”

My lips found hers in what I intended to be a last kiss. Yet at the one taste, every cell in my body protested against pulling away.

As if she sensed it, she threw her arms around my neck, pulling me in, and tangling her tongue with mine.

I poured every thought, every emotion, and all my unspoken words into it. I had to go. I had to figure out who I was now. Had to figure out if I could be the man she deserved.

She pulled away with some hesitation. “Promise you’ll be careful?”

“I promise. Promise me you’ll find a way to go back to school. Not work in the club again, and not take on your family’s debt.”

“I promise. I actually talked with my mom when I was in Abu Dhabi. We got a few things straight.”

Regret hit me hard that she hadn’t had the chance to confide in me after that conversation. That I was only now finding out about it. Guess I should get used to being out of the loop if I was stepping out of her life. I’d no longer know what was going on with her. “I’m glad to hear it.”

She took both my hands in hers and kissed my palms. “Any chance you’ll call or write me?”

It would be easier for both of us if I didn’t. “I’m not much for keeping in touch.”

She nodded.

Then with one last kiss and a reluctance I’d never before experienced, I moved toward the door. Pausing, I withstood the temptation to promise to see her in the future. I couldn’t promise anything.

And we both knew it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Aiden