She gasped.“I never married.No one ever compared to you.”
He sighed.“I married, hoping she would erase you from my mind, but it didn’t work.She quickly realized she wasn’t the one I longed for.”
Nicole pressed her fingers to her temples.“God, Tripp, I keep replaying that night in my head.The two of us were so excited when we left the party and went to that chapel.I was shaking so hard, I could barely say the vows.We promised each other forever, and then it was nothing.”
His lips curved with something like grief and memory.“That old Mustang.I’d spent all day cleaning it out, making it perfect for you.You looked like—” He broke off, his voice unsteady.“You looked like the rest of my life.”
Her throat closed.She remembered the way his hand had gripped hers, both of them giddy and terrified.How they’d driven toward the chapel, headlights cutting through the dark, whispering plans like fairy tales.And how suddenly it had all come crashing to an end.
“I waited all day for you,” she whispered.“We were going to tell our parents.When you didn’t show, I thought,
I thought you’d changed your mind.And then I received your email, and it crushed me.”
“They gave me no choice.Get in the limo; we’re leaving.I had no idea where we were going.I had no idea we were going to fly to Europe.I had no idea we would be gone all summer.”His eyes burned.“But it wasn’t us, Nic.It was them.They made sure we never had the chance to fulfill the promises we made to each other.”
Her hands trembled in her lap.“I wasted half my life hating you.”
“And I wasted mine believing you didn’t want me.”
The words landed like stones, heavy with years of regret.
Slowly, Tripp reached across the space and covered her hand with his.His touch was tentative but searing, like an anchor and a spark all at once.
“Let’s start here,” he said.“With me.With you.With us.Talking.Finally talking.”
Nicole’s eyes burned, but she didn’t pull away.For the first time in two decades, the walls cracked.
They pieced together fragments.Her parents’ evasions.His mother’s slips.The way neither story made sense unless both families had been involved.They filled in the gaps with memory, with pain, and with the suspicion that there was still more truth buried.
Tripp’s jaw hardened.“We can’t keep guessing.We need to know exactly what happened that night.”
Nicole frowned.“And how do you suggest we do that?”
His eyes met hers, unflinching.“We bring them together.All of them.Your parents.My mother.We make them tell us what they did.”
Her stomach dropped.“You really think they’ll admit it?”
“They’ve already admitted enough,” he said flatly.“But I’m done living in the dark.We deserve the truth.”
The conviction in his voice stole her breath.He wasn’t the boy she remembered, impulsive, reckless, full of big dreams.He was a man now.Harder.Colder in some ways.But that fire she’d loved was still there.
Nicole pulled her hand back, pressing it against her chest like she needed to hold her heart in place.“Tripp…this trial.Everything I’ve worked for is hanging in the balance.If we stir this up now, it’ll consume me.”
His eyes searched hers.“I want to see you again.Away from all this.Away from court.”
Her pulse skipped, aching to say yes.But she shook her head.“Not until after the trial.Believe me, I want to know the truth.”
She gazed at him, her eyes brimming with tears.“Maybe we’ve missed our chance or…”
“No,” he said.“Even now, I feel such a strong connection to you.Even now, I know we need time to figure things out.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand.“I’d like that.I want the chance to know if what we felt twenty years ago is still possible.This time, we’re adults.This time, no one can stop us.”
“This time, it will be for us,” he said.“God, I want to kiss you.”
She shook her head.“No.Because I fear once you kiss me, I won’t be able to stop what will happen between us.”
A grin spread across his face.
