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“I know, baby. I came to see you.”
She nods, stepping back, allowing me room to enter. “What’s up?” she asks.
I turn to face her. “I miss you.”
Her face softens. “I’ve missed you too, Rome.”
“I fucked up. Emerson, I thought I was fighting for you, but in the midst of that battle, I forgot to fight for us.”
“I know.” There is sadness in her tone. “Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”
That hurts, but I don’t react. “Does he know about us? Does he know that we still talk and text every day? Does he know that he’s the competition?” I rattle off the questions.
“Roman.”
“Does he know you’re always going to be in my life? That I’m your brother's best friend? Does he know what he stands to lose?”
“He’s not losing anything, Roman. This is ridiculous.”
“You, baby girl. Does he know how precious you are? Does he love you the way you deserve to be loved?” My heart is racing as I ask the question. Surely, she can read through the lines and realize that I’m in love with her.
“Roman, you ended this.” She waves her hand between us. “I’m not yours anymore, Roman. You gave me up.”
“I did what I thought was best for you. The thought of being the reason you were at odds with your brother was eating me up inside. Baby girl, I never want to be the reason for your tears.”
“But you are!” she yells. “Just say what this is really about, Roman. You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me, either.”
“Are you kidding me right now? I fucking love you!” I yell back. “It wasn’t just your heart that I shattered that day.” I lower my voice. My chest is rising rapidly with each breath, and I hate that I raised my voice at her. I’m fucking this up.
“I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t sleep. Not without you.” She’s standing frozen in the middle of the living room. I take a chance and make my way over to her. My hands rest against her cheeks, and I tilt her head up so that I can see her pretty green eyes. “I love you, Emerson. All of you. We can go tell your brother right now. I don’t want to hide what you mean to me anymore.”
“What about Forrest being pissed?”
“He’s going to be.” I nod. “I’m certain he’s going to lose his mind. It hurts me to think that you’re going to be fighting with him. I never want to be the reason for your tears, but I realized something these last several months.”
“What’s that?”
“I can’t live without you being mine. My life is lackluster without you. Every fucking day I have something that happens that I need to share with you. At night, my arms physically ache to hold you. I realized that in trying to save you the heartache, I caused a new kind. It finally clicked with me that the heartache I caused separated us, and we were drowning in our sorrows alone. He’s going to be pissed, and I know it’s going to upset you, but something I didn’t consider was that I’d still be there to dry your tears.”
Her beautiful green eyes shimmer with tears.
“You needed me to be your partner, not your protector. I’ll still always protect you, but I know there are some battles we need to fight together, and this is one of them.”
“Rome.” Her voice cracks.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. I’m prepared to walk away from Everlasting Ink. If that’s what he asks of me, then so be it.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I can.”
“You’ve worked so hard. You all have. You love that shop.”
“I’ll never love anyone or anything more than I love you, baby girl.”
“We’re not together.”
Fuck.My shoulders fall. I thought I was getting through to her. How do I get her to understand she’s everything? Every. Fucking. Thing.
