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That’s the real truth. But telling him that will only hurt him more than I already have by avoiding him.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I finally say, shelving the book I’ve been holding since I felt him approach. “I tried to be honest with you from the start, that I wasn’t cut out for relationships. You know why now. I’m sorry I dumped that on you. I never intended to tell you or anyone else. Being damaged goods isn’t exactly—”
“That’s what you think? That you’re damaged goods?”
It’s a good thing we’re alone down here. Micah is growling at the top of his lungs, his words laced with anger and pain. My shoulders slump forward in defeat when he steps between me and the bookcase.
“Look at me, Lex,” he demands. When I don’t comply, he lifts my chin with his hand and waits until I make eye contact to continue. “You are not damaged goods. You are perfect the way you are. Strong. Beautiful. Caring. Do not let what that man did cloud your vision. It sure as shit hasn’t clouded mine.”
“Micah, I—”
“Stop. Stop making excuses. Stop trying to give me an out. If I wanted to walk away, I would have by now. Does it look like I’m going anywhere to you? No. I had to stalk you, bribe Piper, and flirt with the slutty redhead upstairs to find out where you were. I would go to the ends of the Earth to find you, Alexis. To save you from someone else, but also from yourself.
“He does not have control over you anymore. He doesn’t get a say in who you are or who you’re meant to be. He may have created the armor you wear, but I’m the one that will help you shed it for good. Me, not him. If you let me.”
Micah’s hand is shaking as he holds my chin, his eyes swirling with a dangerous mix of anger and desire. I can feel the tension growing between us the longer we hold each other’s gaze.
I also know he’s waiting for me to make the next move. To say something. To kiss him. Or to push him away for good.
Not that I think he’d go without a fight.
He’s made his stance perfectly clear.
I’ve always known being with Micah would be a risk. One that I wasn’t willing to take at first. One that scared the crap out of me and threatened to destroy everything I built.
But now... now I see he’s not trying to destroy anything. He wants to help me build and create. To thrive and succeed.
And he wants to be a part of it all.
If I’ll let him.
If I do, there’s no going back.
I’d be tossing in all my chips. Risking it all on what started out as nothing more than a tryst. An affair. I cheated on my number one priority, my scholarship, my future, for one night with Micah.
Yet here we are, almost a month later, and the ground I’m standing on hasn’t crumbled beneath me. My final grades were as good as they normally are, even though I was distracted during finals week and my scholarship was renewed for this fall.
What harm could come from taking a little risk?
“Yes.” My voice is barely audible, my throat dry and hoarse from sucking in large breaths through my mouth.
“Yes,” he repeats, dropping his hand and closing the distance between us. “Yes, what, Lex?”
“Yes, I’ll let you help me.”
The words have barely crossed my lips when Micah captures them.
