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I give her a tight smile. “Baby girl,” I say quietly. I see her shiver at my words, which gives me hope.
“What are you doing here?” she asks, genuine confusion painted on her face.
I give her a disapproving look.
“You snuck out,” I say flatly, crossing my arms over my chest. “You should have told me you wanted to leave. It’s not safe for you to be walking around, especially not at night.”
“I didn’t want to wake you,” she says.
Bullshit. Plus, that’s not the point.
“Are you lying to me, little girl?” I ask in warning. She looks away from me, unable to meet my gaze.
“I had to get back here.”
“Pia,” I say more harshly. She stares at her feet for a second before her eyes meet mine.
“It was just a one-night stand.”
“Says who?” I snap angrily. I know I need to calm down, but hearing her say those words has me losing my shit.
“We don’t belong together,” she says, her eyes pleading with me to accept that we’re over and stop torturing her. I can’t give her what she wants.
“Yes, we do. I’ve never been more positive about anything in my life, baby girl. You’re meant to be mine and you’ve owned me since the moment I saw you.”
I can see that she wants to believe me, but she’s been hurt too much. Life hasn’t been kind to Pia in the last year, and she’s not sure who to trust.
“Pia,” I say more softly. “I’ve never shared myself like that with anyone. What we did last night? That was so much more than sex.”
Her cheeks turn rosy at the mention of us together, and I know she’s remembering the way her body responded to mine.
“It was everything. You’re my heart. My whole damn world.”
My girl sniffles, dropping her gaze as she wraps her arms around her torso. She looks so small, so vulnerable and defeated. My hands twitch with the need to hold her, to soothe the wrinkle in her brow.
“Where do you really see this going?” she whispers. “How can we be anything more than a one-night stand? We just met. We don’t live anywhere close to each other, and we’re both so busy. We’ll never see each other.”
She blinks away tears, and the sight breaks my heart. I know she’s not going to believe me if I say that I love her, that I’ve been absolutely obsessed since I laid eyes on her, and that I’m never going to get over her. She’s trying to push me away right now, but I’m not going to let her. Not without a fight.
“What can I do?” I murmur, taking a step closer to her. “What can I do to prove to you that I want you?” Taking a chance, I reach out, playing with a few strands of her golden hair before tucking them behind her ear. Pia gives me a heartbreaking look, full of such sorrow and loneliness.
“I don’t know,” she admits quietly. “I just—”
“Hey, Pia!” someone calls from further down the tent. I glare in that direction as my girl turns away from me.
“I have to go,” she tells me, spinning out of reach. I try to grab her hand, but it’s too late, and she slips away once again.
If Pia thinks this is the last she’ll see of me, she’s up for a rude awakening. I’m not giving up on my dream girl, on us, and our perfect future that easily. Anything in life worth having is worth fighting for. And Pia? Fuck, I’d bring the whole damn world to its knees for another chance to show her we belong together.
I head out of the tent before anyone can yell at me to leave and make my way toward the big tent. I’m going to talk to Pia again. I’m going to convince her that we’re forever.
I can’t live without her.
EIGHT
Pia
This isour last full day in Salem, Massachusetts, and I’m not sure if I’m relieved to be leaving tomorrow or dreading it. My tender heart is still confused about everything that happened this morning, from sneaking out to running into Gavin again.
