Page 16 of But For You

I stared into his eyes. “So, I’m to blame for your lie?”

He shook his head. “It was more of an omission, yeah?”

“A lie is a lie,” I clarified, holding his gaze. “The result is the same.”

“Yeah.”

“You can’t blame me.”

“I know. I just … there was no way I was losing you then, and there’s no way I’m letting this come between us now. I’m sorry I lied about Kevin Dwyer. It was stupid. I should have just said. But you were a scared rabbit back then, and nothing I could say or do was going to change your mind. And I get why; my track record—ours together—was total shit.”

“I was scared.”

“Not anymore, right?”

“You know that’s not me anymore. I believe in us.”

“But you didn’t then. And I knew who I was. I knew I’d changed, and I was certain I could be your husband, be your forever, but you had to trust me to see us long term, and we weren’t there yet. You’d just started being hopeful again.”

“And you thought telling me about Kevin Dwyer would end us.”

“I don’t know if it would have ended us, but I sure as hell wasn’t taking any chances.”

I nodded.

“But again, that’s not us anymore.”

“No?”

“No,” he sighed. “You don’t run, and I don’t give up. We haven’t been those people in a long time. We work hard to keep our life together.”

Yes, we did. Both of us. All the time.

I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging tight, shoving my nose against the side of his neck, inhaling him.

“Oh, please,” he murmured, one hand cradling the back of my head, gently knotting in my hair, and the other on the small of my back, holding me close. “I am sorry for never telling you about Kevin Dwyer, but it was a long time ago, and it didn’t mean shit, I swear to God.”

“No?”

“Jory, honey, I’ve never loved anyone but you, and you know that.”

I was savoring his closeness.

“Don’t you know that?”

“I do,” I said and felt the truth in my gut. There was no doubt in my mind.

“That’s why I had to come home and get you back.”

“It took you a minute,” I grumbled.

“That’s because I was scared that I’d messed everything up, but I knew then, like I do now, that my life doesn’t work without you.”

I tightened my arms, pressed closer, and heard him exhale into my shoulder. He needed to know everything was okay; it was imperative that his home was in order. He needed it so he could do his job out in the world.

“He’s a very handsome man.”

He grunted, not paying attention, tipping my head back to kiss the base of my throat. “There’s this one freckle right here that drives me crazy.”