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Her eyes widened. “Punish you?”

He immediately regretted the words. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“That’s what you think I’ve been doing all this time?” She dropped his hand. “All this time when I’ve stood by you and helped you and listened to all the rumors about everyone you’ve fucked.” Her voice rose with every word. She climbed out of the bed, tossing the sheets aside.

“You can’t believe everything you hear.”

“Jesus, Theo!” She threw a pillow at his head, but he caught it and set it aside, which only made her angrier.

“I just meant that I know you never really forgave me for…”

“For what? Say it.”

“For breaking my promises to you.” He swallowed hard. “For being a fucking coward. For not being able to treat you like you deserved, Fee. I’m sorry. Okay? I’ve been so fucking sorry for a year now and I thought I had to atone by staying away from you, but I don’t want that. I don’t want to … pretend anymore.”

When her gaze met his again, her eyes were full of tears, and her breath rose and fell in short gasps.

“I never thought you were a coward.”

He huffed, dropping his gaze to his hands. He was a coward. Even now he was fucking terrified that Fee would leave this house, officially done with his bullshit.

She crawled back onto the bed and knelt in front of him. She was wearing nothing but her tank top and the world’s tiniest pair of panties. Theo wrapped his hands in the sheets to keep himself from reaching out for her.

“I thought you were hurting,” she went on. “I thought you needed time.” She wiped the tears that had somehow started falling from his eyes. “I thought it was for the best.”

Theo blinked. “For the best?”

She shrugged and her tank top strap slid down again. He focused on the strap, not her freckled skin or her knowing gaze. He couldn’t bear it.

“You know how nymphs are, Theo. We don’t … do this.”

He wanted to pull her closer, to hang on to her. He was about to lose her before he even had her. “It’s just a trial period, Fee. A little experiment between friends.”

Fee frowned, faint lines appearing in her forehead. He nudged her leg with his foot. “We could be good together.”

She was quiet for so long that Theo thought he might die waiting. But he would wait forever for this woman.

“I guess that’s the idea of the trial period, right? To figure out if we could be good together…”

He flicked his eyes back to her face. “Wait, really?” His heart banged so violently against his ribcage he thought for sure it would burst free.

She shrugged again, a small smile lifting her lips. “How else will we know?”

“Fee, holy shit,” he breathed, a wild laugh escaping him. “Holy shit. I’m going to prove it to you.”

He grabbed her hips and leaned forward pressing his forehead against her chest. “I hope so,” she said.

He knew she was still hesitant, still worried, still angry, but he was going to fix all of that. He was going to show Fee he was ready to love her. He nuzzled beneath her tank top and kissed across the soft flesh of her stomach.

Now that he was allowed to touch her, he was greedy. He didn’t ever want to stop.

Phoebe raked her fingers through his hair, and he practically purred at the sensation. He peered up at her and grinned. “And it’s going to be really fun.”

She laughed, but her eyes were still wary.

He tugged her gently into his lap until she straddled him with her thighs. “It’s going to be okay, Fee.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Theo.”