Page 261 of Trick or Stalk

“Congratulations. You've discovered the exception.”

I turn around and stride away.

He catches up. “What if she doesn't want to see you again?”

I stop. The question lands somewhere I don't have armor.

Impossible. She's mine.

The thought comes as naturally as breathing.

Presley is mine.

Except tonight she looked at me like I was a stranger.

Worse, like she wished I were.

I force myself to say the words. “Then she doesn't.”

Wilder stares at me.

My chest feels like someone is slowly carving it open.

“She gets to decide.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

I hate every word coming out of my mouth.

But they're true.

I can chase her through the woods when she asks me to.

I can scare her when she wants to be scared.

I can pin her against a tree when she tells me she wants me to catch her.

But I can't make her trust me again.

I can't make her forgive me.

And I sure as fuck can't make her love me. Not after I made sure she didn't know who she was falling in love with.

I reach my truck. My hand closes around the handle.

Wilder stops on the other side. “For what it's worth, I think she'll talk to you.”

I look across the roof at him. “You don't know that.”

“No.” He hesitates. “But I saw the way she looked at you before everything went to shit.”

So did I.

That's the fucking problem.

She looked at me like I was someone worth loving.

And I let myself believe I could keep her.