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I knew it. I’d asked him about the woman. I knew he was showing up at Myth and taking his shit out on me because of one. I just didn’t know her name.
“You were supposed to be an escape,” he admits. “Somewhere I could run. Something that was only mine.”
“You loved her,” I repeat, the pain of those words dripping down my spine, flaring in my chest like a storm that steals my breath.
“I thought I did. But she wasn’t what I thought she was. My brother loved her, and she loved him. She wasn’t the home I was looking for.”
He sighs, his fingers gently stroking up and down my arm. Everywhere he touches tingles. My head falls back against his shoulder.
“Emily used to kiss away my bruises after those weekends Ezra and I were forced to fight. And for a long time, I thought I needed that touch. For someone to heal me. But then I met you.”
Just the mention of those weekends sets my teeth on edge, my anger burning away the pain of Damon’s love for someone else.
“I still want to kill all your fathers,” I whisper. “Slowly. And with a dull instrument so it hurts more.”
Another soft laugh shakes his chest. “And that’s what I fell in love with about you…”
My heart constricts.
Love?
Helovesme?
“Blue, no matter what I’m feeling, you’ve never backed down. No matter what I said, you knew me from the beginning. You told me that, and I refused to believe you. You chose to learn about my past and stood there to fight with me. You are the only woman who chose to face my anger head on, and I didn’t know how to handle that. But here we are.”
Damon turns me around to face him, notching two fingers beneath my chin so that I can look up into those enigmatic amber eyes.
A tiny grin curls the edge of his mouth. “So we might as well work through this.”
Bastard.
Using my own words against me.
“We’re too scarred,” I tell him. “Too damaged.”
He nods, his stare never letting me go. “But tell me I’m wrong when I say we’re both looking for homes. We’ve been searching for a place to call home our entire lives. And in the moments we told each other our secrets, that’s exactly what we found.”
Home.
I’ve never really had one.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Emily and you found out from someone else. I’ll grovel about that.”
I blink at the admission.
“But I’m ready to tell you about the rest of the scars, if you still want to hear about them.”
“Damon—”
“You showed me yours, so I’ll show you mine. But more importantly, I promised you that no matter where you ran, I’d find you. So here I am.”
Chuckling at that, I mention, “It’s not like I ran far. I’m exactly where you first found me.”
Damon releases my chin to tap the side of my head. “This is where you run. That’s what I finally understand.”
Bastard.
It’s not fair that he knows that.
