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She’s pouring half and half into her mug when I reach over her to grab a plate. I only meant to lightly touch her, but my hips end up pressing into her back. With a startled gasp, Athelia jumps, the carton of cream falling from her hand and spilling everywhere.
We both reach for it at the same time, and our fingers brush before I right the carton.
“I—I’m sorry,” she says, already rushing to grab a towel. “I just… I don’t know what happened.”
Her cheeks are pink as she sops up the spilled half and half. With a sigh, I lean against the counter and watch her. She’s in leggings and a T-shirt I gave to her before she left. The image pulls at the possessive side of me. I like seeing my clothes on her, even now.
“Athelia,” I say once she’s rinsed out the towel.
When she turns to me, I realize her hands are shaking. It seems like her and Cal made up, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I put her in an impossible and unfair situation by asking her to come and talk to him.
No,I tell myself when I remember what she said to Wes last night.No, she wants to be here. She belongs here, and she knows it.
“Are you back?” I ask softly.
Her eyes widen then, a doubtful expression appearing on her face. Doubtful ofwhat?She has to know that what she did doesn’t change anything for me. But as I stare at her, waiting for an answer, I realize that’s not true. She looks scared as she licks her lips and softly clears her throat.
“Do you want me to be back?”
“You actually think I don’t?” I ask incredulously.
“I think my goal was to hurt you, and I succeeded,” she says slowly, “and that might… change how you feel about me.”
I shake my head. “I don’t care.”
“There’s no way you mean that.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think, Thelia.” I tuck some of her dark green hair behind her ear, needing to touch her in any way I can. “Our relationship is far from traditional. We bullied you for years. If you had to hurt us so we could be on even footing, then so be it. I’d suffer for an eternity if it meant I get to have a single lifetime with you.”
“Kellan,” she whispers. “Kellan, I…”
“If you’re not staying, don’t say it yet.” Leaning down, I let my lips brush against her cheek. “Let me pretend, even if it’s just for a couple minutes.”
“I want to stay.” She places a hand on my chest and stares up at me with those warm brown eyes that’ve captivated me since the first moment I looked into them. “I want to come back to you, Kellan.”
“You mean it?”
“Yes. Yes, I promise I mean it. I missed you so much.” Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me down until our lips are almost touching. She closes her eyes and whispers, “I can’t bear the thought of leaving again.”
“If you come back,” I say lowly, “we’re never letting you go again. Never, you hear me? We won’t give you another chance to run.”
“I’ll never run from you. Never again.”
At that, I fuse my mouth to hers. My hips press her into the counter, and I grab at her waist, needing to feel her against me.
“Kellan,” she gasps.
Wes clears his throat behind us, and I pull away. Athelia blinks up at me before her eyes lock with his. Her face pales at his emotionless expression.
“What’re you doing?” He keeps his tone even, and even though I know he’s just as hurt as I am, he manages to stay calm. Even if he doesn’t know what to think anymore, he still wants Athelia back. He just needs her to say she wants it, too.
“I…” Athelia wraps her arms around herself. “I was…”
“You told me last night that it wasn’t all a lie,” Wes says.
Wordlessly, Athelia nods.
He glances between the two of us carefully. “So what does that mean? Because if you think you can fuck Cal and then kiss Kellan like that, just to leave again, you’ve got another thing coming.”
