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“We should talk,” I softly said before I breathed in a deep breath. The pillow smelled like Blayze. Smiling, I felt him pull the covers over me.
“Get some sleep. We can talk tomorrow.”
All I remembered was a soft kiss on my forehead before I drifted off into a dreamless slumber.
Warm breath tickled my neck, and I stretched and opened my eyes. It only took me a moment to realize I was in Blayze’s bedroom. I didn’t even need to look at my surroundings; the way he placed kisses on my neck and along my jawline told me exactly where I was. Blayze leaned over me, those deep blue eyes sparkling with delight.
“Good morning.”
I sat up as I replied, “Good morning. My goodness, did I even move in my sleep? I feel like I blacked out.”
He chuckled and put a tray in front of me. My eyes widened as I saw coffee, orange juice, two pieces of toast with butter and cinnamon sprinkled on them, and a bowl of cereal.
“How did you know I liked cinnamon on my toast?”
Blayze winked and my stomach fluttered. “You stayed with me remember? I watched and paid attention.”
I wanted to sigh at the sweet gesture. I smiled as I looked down at the tray. “Is that Cap’n Crunch?”
A sheepish smile appeared on his handsome face. “It is. I bought some after you left. I remembered it was your favorite when we were little. I don’t have any eggs or anything, so this is it as far as breakfast goes.”
With a shake of my head, I picked up the orange juice. “No, this is perfect. Thank you.”
He moved a bit on the bed until he faced me. “I want to apologize for the way I treated you that day at the street fair.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he didn’t need to say he was sorry, but he held up his hand.
“Please, let me say this. Just eat your breakfast while I talk.”
Nodding, I set the orange juice down and started in on the cereal.
“The day our fathers caught us, we were young and maybe we weren’t ready to take that step, but I knew I wanted to take it with you. Even at sixteen, I knew my heart would always belong to you. So when you said that it had all been a mistake and that I wasn’t the type of guy you wanted to give yourself to, it hurt more than I think I realized at the time.”
“Blayze, I was…”
My voice faded as he raised a brow.
“I ran off and did the one thing I’ve regretted to this day,” he said. “After that, I decided I was going to be the guy you thought I was. So I kept flirting, and I never dated anyone seriously—although, I think that had more to do with you than I wanted to admit. I didn’t sleep with a ton of women, but I had my fair share. Then Lindsay pulled that little stunt on me, and I once again blamed you because seeing you was the reason I’d gotten drunk that night. When I saw you with that guy in Dallas, it brought up all those damn feelings again from when I was sixteen. I didn’t know how to work through it. So I found myself in a pickle with the one woman I never wanted to be in a pickle with.”
I couldn’t help but give him a sad smile. “I never meant to hurt you.”
He nodded. “I know that now, but back then I was still hurt. You were scared, embarrassed, and well, my pride was broken. It was broken again in Dallas. Then again with Lindsay. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad I dodged that bullet. But it shook my faith in women, and I swore I wouldn’t settle down until I was good and ready and had found a woman I could trust.”
Blayze drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “When I found out about you knowing what the magazine wanted and you hadn’t told me, I used that as an excuse to push you away. I was still hurt that you hadn’t been upfront and honest with me, don’t get me wrong, but after I settled down, I got to thinking about all the times you kept saying you wanted to talk to me and how I pushed it off. I don’t know, maybe deep down inside I was scared of what you were going to say. So it was easier for me to put it off. I blamed you, Georgie, when I played a big part in the reason you hadn’t told me.”
All I could do was stare at him, not sure what to even say.
“My wall came up, and once again it was fortified by my goddamn pride. I couldn’t sleep for days after that. I drank nearly every night until I passed out. I was so pissed at myself for treating you that way and letting you go—telling you to go. Then one week turned into two. Then a month. Then you stayed in London, and I tried to tell myself it was for the best. That maybe we weren’t meant to be together.”
