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“Jake?” I said quietly.
He raised his head to look at me and I saw his eyes were filled with tears.
“What happened?” I said as I ran to him. “What’s wrong, Jake?”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. He wrapped his hands around me and sobbed.
“Jake?” I said and hugged him back. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I am so sorry, Aria,” he said quietly.
“Why are you sorry?” I asked and pushed back slightly to look at him.
“I should have walked you home,” he said quietly. “It is my fault this happened to you. If I walked you home, he wouldn’t have attacked you. Your grandma wouldn’t have taken you away and you would be here. With me.”
My heart clenched painfully. He sounded broken.
“No, Jake,” I said and cupped his cheek. “It is not your fault. He would have got another chance. You couldn’t have stopped that. Nobody could.”
“I love you, Minnie,” he said quietly.
“I love you too, Jake,” I said and smiled at him. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” he said. “You have no idea how much.”
I smiled and tried to step away from him, but his grip around me tightened.
“Is he really your mate?” he asked me quietly, his eyes darkening.
“Yes, Jake,” I answered, looking into his eyes.
“And you love him?” he asked me, his jaw clenching.
He caught me off guard. How do I respond to his question? Did I love Nick? I did have feelings for him. I felt safe around him. I needed him. I wanted him to be happy. But do I love him? I didn’t even know him that well yet. But I guess I was starting to love him.
“Aria?” Jake’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“I am starting to love him,” I said and sighed. “It is complicated. There is a bond between us, but we didn’t really get a chance to get to know each other.”
“Good,” he said as he leaned his forehead on mine.
He closed his eyes and a small smile spread across his face.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
As if he could feel it, he lifted his head and looked at me.
“That means I still have a fighting chance,” he said, and his eyes darted to my lips.
Shit. I couldn’t let him kiss me. I promised to Nick I wouldn’t even let him touch me and I had already broken that promise. But, in my defense, he was in pain. I needed to help my friend.
I pulled away from him and smiled. I grabbed his glass from the table.
“I think you had enough of that,” I said and poured the rest of the whisky in the sink.
“Fuck, Minnie,” he whined. “Why did you do that?”
I chuckled and grabbed two glasses from the cupboard. I poured water into them and handed one to Jake.
