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I take a deep breath. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry for the other night. I was wrong.”
He cocks his head to the side. “About what specifically?”
I meet his eyes. “That walking away from you was the only solution.”
His chest rises and falls. “What made you change your mind?”
“Honestly? Brody.”
A crease forms between his brows. “Care to elaborate?”
I sigh. “I spoke with him. Turns out, you were right. About everything. The whole ultimatum thing was his way of testing whether or not your feelings for me were genuine. He never had any intention of actually making you choose between us.”
A slight muscle jumps in his cheek. “I see.”
He doesn’t look nearly as happy about that as I thought he would. “So...”
He lifts a brow. “So...what?”
Fuck, this groveling shit is hard.
I wave my hand through the air. “So...that means that you and Brody are cool and we can be together.”
Drew runs his hand over his jaw. “I don’t know if it’s that simple, Charlee.”
I shift until my feet are tucked beneath me. “It can be.”
He contemplates that for a minute. “Not really. As much as I’d like that to be true, it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t trust me.”
I flick my wrists with my palms turned upward. “What do you mean? Of course I trust you.”
He releases a heavy sigh. “No, you don’t. You needed validation from your brother. You didn’t have enough faith in me to take my word for it. And as far as Brody’s concerned, I can’t say that I’m okay with his little...test. He could’ve been upfront with me—actually said that he needed to see it for himself rather than play games.”
“What do you want me to do, Drew? Tell me and I’ll do it.”
“Honey, I wish I knew. I was actually about to come see you, to try convincing you to ride it out with me. If you would’ve come here before talking to Brody, it would be completely different. You can say you trust me all you want, but your actions say otherwise. Trust is a key component in a relationship, Charlee. You can’t have one without it.”
I sigh. “That’s fair. But I don’t want to be without you, Drew. I never did. And I know you feel the same, so can’t we at least try?”
He gives me a sad smile. “I don’t know. I think I need some time.”
“How much time?”
Drew shakes his head. “I don’t know. Just time.”
I hang my head in my hands. “Okay. I guess I’ll just...head out now.”
He gets out of his chair and walks me to the door.
I hold my arms out. “Can I...can I at least have a hug before I go?”
Drew wraps his arms around me, holding me tight. I lock my hands around his waist and just breathe in his woodsy cologne.
He kisses the top of my head. “I love you, honey. I don’t want it to be like this, but I need time.”
I sniff back tears, nodding against this muscular chest. “I understand.”
He releases me much too soon and brushes my hair away from my face. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
