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“Alright, you had your say. Now it’s my turn,” he growled, refusing to release me this time. “I fell for you the first time I saw you out my window when you came to live with your grandparents. I had just turned sixteen, just found out I was the starting quarterback for the football team, and I’d aced my AP English placement exam. But none of that mattered when you showed up.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about love at first sight, Rena. I was hit by a goddamned lightning bolt, and my life has never been the same. All I could think about, all I could want, wasyou. When you started talking to me and I realized you liked me back, holyfucking shit, I was so happy, I could touch the damn sky. Loving you wasn’t a choice back then, I just had to. That night in the greenhouse was the best night of my life up until last night. Rena, I had no idea you didn’t write me that letter.”
I started to tremble, and tears were streaming down my face, but I was frozen, intent on his words and trying to understand. Was he saying he loved me? I sucked in a shaky breath, realizing I wanted that. I’d dreamed of that very thing for so long. It shamed me knowing how vulnerable I still was, how desperate for this man.
Please love me.
Jeremy’s hold became caressing, and I found myself leaning on him for support while he continued to confess things I never thought I would ever hear from a man.
“Rena, I was sent to military school right after that night. My parents did not allow me to come home that whole first year, and after I never heard from you despite the letters I sent?—”
“I never got any letters,” I whispered, and he closed his eyes, a look of anguish washing over his face.
“I mailed you letters, sweetheart. Dozens. I swear it. I never heard back, so I stayed away. I am so sorry for all that wasted time.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I consoled him.
To my utter shock, I realized it was true. Jeremy wasn’t to blame. Neither was I.
But was that reason enough to stay with him and try this thing for real? Before I had a chance to voice my concern, the timer went off, and Jeremy released me to retrieve the muffins. They smelled divine, and I put them on the baker’s rack to cool, and I removed the cream cheese frosting we’d whipped up earlier from the fridge.
“Your muffins still smell like heaven, Rena.”
“You always think with your stomach?” I asked, smiling despite myself.
“No. Usually, I think with my head, but this time, I am thinking with my heart,” he said, standing directly behind me so his cock is pressed against my ass. “You fit me. We belong together. Let me prove it to you. Let me have you. I promise I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never regret it.”
Gulp.
CHAPTER TWELVE- MORENA
Snow was falling outside the picture window and that image from the little fantasy I’d allowed myself earlier played across my brain one more time.
“So, what are you thinking, Jeremy?” I asked, turning to face him. “You think I’m single all this time, just waiting for some man to come find me? You think you are going to swoop in, save me from my life, ruin me with perfect sex, until you get bored and look for something better?”
“First, you think our sex was perfect?” Jeremy grinned, and I slapped his chest.
Such a fucking guy, this one.
“Ouch,” he said, but I didn’t hurt him. “Second,” he continued unabashedly. “Rena, you don'tneeda man. You damn sure don't need one to swoop in and save you from anything. The fact is, I've been trying to find what we had my whole life. I have been looking for that same connection, but really, I have been looking for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes, you. Since I was sixteen. It has always only ever been you.”
I swallowed hard and dropped my gaze to his chest. What was a girl supposed to do with that kind of confession? Did we even know each other anymore?
“Let’s play two truths and a lie,” I blurted, and Jeremy’s head cocked to the side like he wasn’t sure he heard me.
“You want to play two truths and a lie? What even is that?”
“It’s easy. You just tell me two truths and a lie, and I have to guess the lie. And yes. I want to play right now. I want to see if we know each other anymore,” I said seriously.
“Wait. What are the stakes?”
“The stakes are, if we can get through two rounds without losing, I will date you.”
