AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You changed your phone number,” she observes, hurt evident in those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
“We said all we needed to say. I walked away ready to leave you behind, but in order to do that, I had to make sure that I made a clean break. No way to contact you or you me—no more of the back and forth. It was the only way I could think to even give myself a fighting chance.”
“And is that what you still want? To leave me behind?” She shuffles from one foot to the other, clearly very nervous.
Fuck—I’m nervous, too. My heart is pounding relentlessly against my ribs, and I swear I haven’t taken a real breath since she walked in the door.
“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” I bite, crossing around the kitchen counter to stand at the edge of the living room just feet from where Tess is.
“That’s not what I asked.” She shakes her head, taking a hesitant step toward me. “Do you still want to leave me behind?”
“What does it matter, you’re with someone else?” I grind out, my entire body tensing as she takes another step and then another until she’s standing just a foot in front of me, her eyes locked on mine.
“What if I weren’t, would it make a difference?”
My heart beats even faster. Every single thing that ran through my mind the moment I laid eyes on her now seems within my grasp, and yet I’m hesitant to accept it so easily. We’ve done this song and dance before, and the last thing I want to do is get my hopes up and think she’s offering something that she’s not.
“That depends, are you still planning to marry…” I pause when I realize I don’t even remember the fucker’s name.
“Bennett,” she clarifies.
“I don’t care,” I snip, growing even more impatient.
“No.” She shakes her head softly. “I’m not going to marry him.”
“And does he know this?” I question, a tight knot forming at the base of my throat.
“He does.”
She takes another step, leaving just inches between us. She’s so close I can smell her sweet scent, hear the sound of her shallow breath, feel the tension seeping off of her. And yet not one part of our bodies is touching, a fact I’m acutely aware of.
“Now answer the question,” she adds. “Do you still want to leave me behind?”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking over my response before actually speaking it.
“I never wanted that. Not ever. But I didn’t see another way.”
“You were right when you said I was scared. I was, I still am. But I finally realized that living a life without you was a hell of a lot scarier than the risk that I might lose you again.”
“What are you saying, Tess?”
“I’m saying I love you. I’m saying that not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you. I’m saying that you’ve been with me—a part of me—since that first night on that balcony. I gave you my heart back then Sebastian, and I don’t ever want you to give it back.”
“I never planned to anyway.” I grin, allowing my fingers to brush down her forearm, her skin prickling under my touch.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to find my way back to you,” she whispers, eyes welling with unshed tears.
“I’m sorry I let you go to begin with.” I bring my hand up to cup the side of her face, feeling the overwhelming urge to pinch myself to make sure this is real.
“Don’t ever do it again okay?” She half laughs, half cries, the sound coming out a little jumbled mess of emotion.
“Never.” It’s the last word off my tongue before my lips land on hers.
It’s soft and hesitant at first, but then quickly morphs into something else entirely. Tess has a way of lighting my body on fire, and feeling her mouth pressed to mine for the first time in over four years has my entire body engulfed in the burn. I relish in the pain, in the pleasure, in the unspoken promise the kiss holds.
I put it all out there. I bleed everything I am into that kiss, willing Tess to feel how much I love her—how much I’ve always loved her.
I never expected Tess. Not five years ago, not a year ago—not today. I never planned for her to change my life the way she has. I didn’t expect it or want it, but the moment I touched her, tasted her, felt her heart beating against mine; I knew there was no going back. I had no idea just how right I had been.
