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“Black ops? Seriously?”
I nod. “I guess you can see that as lying, but the only mistress I had was the Marine Corps.”
“I’m such a fool,” she whispers, her head shaking back and forth. “I let it distort everything. I pictured you controlling me at home and sneaking out to see someone else. That’s what I saw when you dropped to one knee. I saw me sacrificing my own career in the military because that’s what happens when two people in the service get married. Someone has to bend, and I knew that would’ve been me. I didn’t want to be controlled or protected. I fought every chance I got because I never wanted to feel helpless like I did when I was a child.”
“It would’ve been you,” I say, although it hurts me to realize this about myself. “I would’ve expected you to sacrifice what you were building. At twenty, I couldn’t see past myself. I knew my job was more important than yours. I knew that my career was going to help more and save more than yours would’ve.”
She nods, pain in her eyes at my words.
“I can’t change that about myself,” I whisper
“And I can’t help but see that even if we stayed together longer, it never would’ve worked out.”
It would hurt less if she ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped it into the floor.
“But we aren’t those people any longer,” she whispers. “I’m not afraid of being protected and loved any longer. I just know that I can’t come second.”
“My job.” I shake my head. “My job is even more important now, Grace. I won’t lie to you and say it’s not. If you’re saying you want to be with me, that you love me, you have to know that there will be times I have to break plans and leave. Sometimes we get no warning.”
She cups my jaw when I drop my head. We were so close, only for it to be ripped away again.
“I do love you, Trenton, and I’m mature enough now to understand what you do is important.”
“You love me?”
“I do. Are you sure you don’t need sex with other people to be fulfilled?”
“I don’t need that. I just need you.”
New tears race down her face.
“I’m ready to face forever with you,” I tell her. “What do you say?”
It’s not a marriage proposal just yet, but she nods her head enthusiastically before pressing her salty, tear-stained lips to mine.
Chapter 38
Grace
“Why does he have a black eye?” I ask Trenton on the ride back to the clubhouse.
I noticed the dark ring around Isaac’s eye when he looked back at us in the rearview mirror.
“He’s always getting into trouble,” Trenton tells me with a smile that says he was somehow involved.
There doesn’t seem to be any weirdness between the two of them after what we all did last night, but maybe that issue was solved by a punch to the face.
“I had fun last night,” I say, hating the darkness that begins to shadow his eyes. “But never again. I need you to know that. You’re the only one I want.”
He presses his lips to mine, the kiss deepening, our hands wandering. A jolt of thrill runs up my spine when he nips at my bottom lip.
“Gonna be really hard to drive with an erection if you two keep that up,” Isaac mutters from the driver’s seat.
Trenton smiles against my lips, kissing me one last time before pulling away.
The drive back seems faster than the trip spent riddled with worry on our way to Hale-ish, and I manage to sleep a couple hours with my head resting on Trenton’s shoulder.
My phone ringing wakes me up, the number unknown.
“Hello?” I croak, my voice filled with sleep.
“Grace?” a woman asks.
“This is she.”
“It’s… I’m…”
She seems nervous, but I don’t get the vibe that it’s some spam account or telemarketer.
“Can I help you?”
“It’s Alyssa Dansby.”
I look over at Trenton in shock. The girl taken by Ronald Higgle after me is on the line.
I mouth her name to him.
“You said I could call you if I needed you.”
“And I meant it, Alyssa.”
“Please, call me Aly.”
“What’s going on, Aly? Are you safe?”
A long silence fills the line before she answers, and I understand the hesitation.
“I’m not in any danger,” she says, her voice low.
“But you don’t feel safe?”
“When does that end?” she whispers. “When do I stop looking over my shoulder? When can I leave my house and not shake?”
“You’re back home?”
I didn’t figure she’d stay on campus after what happened.
“The college is allowing me to finish my winter-term classes online, but they won’t extend it to the spring semester.” Another long silence passes. “But it doesn’t matter. I can’t even concentrate on the online classes.”
“I wish I had answers for you, Aly.”
I feel helpless right now.
“I don’t understand why I’m so torn up. I wasn’t seriously hurt. He didn’t r-rape me.”
