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“Not fucking possible.” His voice sounded raw, as raw as the ache in her chest. “I had to wait a damn long time to get you. I’m not about to toss you back.”
His phrasing made her giggle through her pain. “Like a fish?”
“More like a prized Beluga whale.”
“Hmm. Is that a compliment? Because I’m not really sure.”
He stroked her hair. “Yes. I would never do anything but compliment you.”
She eased back to look at him, fighting not to hide her tear-smeared face. His softened the instant he noticed her tears, and he reached for her cheek, touching her so carefully. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“For what? You didn’t do anything. This was all my fault.”
“I should’ve forced him to listen to us. To really hear what we were saying. Fuck it, I should’ve given him a black eye for not understanding.”
“What were we saying, exactly?”
Sparks rubbed her lower lip. “That we love each other. That we love him too.”
She nodded, helpless to fight the tears that sprung to her eyes.
This time, it felt like her chest was cracking open, and a lifetime of emotions came rushing out. Everything she’d held back and pushed down and slapped a veneer of fake self-assuredness on to make it seem like she was okay.
Nothing had ever hurt her. Nothing ever would. She was too strong, too brave.
And underneath all of it, she was the most cowardly person who had ever lived.
Sparks didn’t question her, just picked her up and carried her to her bed. They curled up together while rare Southern California rain pelted the windows and darkness closed them in.
His heartbeat was her North star and her tears were like an ocean, washing so much pain away. So much fear.
In a halting voice, she told him about her father and his affairs. She couldn’t get out much, and besides, she felt like if she was going to bare all, Tristan needed to be there too.
Even if Tristan closed them out, they would wait for him to change his mind. To figure out what they already had. They loved him enough to give him the space.
“That’s not all you’ve been holding back.” Sparks threaded his fingers through her hair. “You keep blaming yourself for what happened today.”
Swallowing hard, she leaned up to search for his eyes in the dark. “I gave that story about the three of us to the tabloids.”
He didn’t respond right away. After a moment, he linked his fingers with hers. Making sure she understood she wasn’t alone.
That he didn’t hate her.
“Okay. Tell me why.”
She tried to explain about the lies her father had perpetuated, how her mother had fed them so readily to her daughters. But in the end, she didn’t have to, not completely.
Because just like from the beginning, Sparks just got her. He understood how her crazy mind worked.
“You wanted everyone to know he was ours too,” Sparks murmured.
“Yes.” She swallowed deeply and tipped her forehead to his. “That’s all I wanted, but God, he didn’t want that. His reputation will suffer. He’ll think I never cared about him at all. That I was just being heartless.”
“At first, maybe. But we’ll win him over. First, though, we’ll wait him out.”
“Yeah, I figured we’d give him tonight, then—”
“Tonight, and tomorrow night, and as many other nights as it takes for him to get his head on straight.
