“How about you tell me the truth?” he suggested.
“I got scared.”
“That’s bullshit.”
I grimaced. “What if something happened to you? What if we fell in love, got married, and you died? I don’t want to be alone again, Dean. It happened once before. Trish and I were supposed to grow old together. We were supposed to raise Cole together. And then she was just...gone.” I reached up to cup his cheek with the palm of my hand, terrified that he would push me away. When he took a step back, my stomach clenched, but then Dean lunged forward and wrapped his arms around me. Relief flooded my system as I held him and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to let him go. Not ever. He felt perfect like this.
“I’m still so fucking mad, and you’re going to have to earn my trust again, but you can’t live life like that, Beau.” Dean pulled back, and my eyes popped back open. “I’m healthy. I just had a checkup a few months ago, and everything was fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m in the prime of my life.”
My heart stuttered at the sight of him. Dean was so damn beautiful. Those emerald-green eyes and that hair. And that smile. Fuck, I had missed him. I wanted to kiss him right here. But I couldn’t. Not until he was ready, and not until he told me he wanted me back.
“Does that mean you still want to be with me?” Hope lingered despite the hurtful words he had thrown at me.
“Do you want to be with me? Because I didn’t ghost—”
I stopped him with a kiss. I didn’t care anymore. Let the whole damn world know how I felt about Dean Frost. I crushed our mouths together and took what I wanted. His hands came up and tangled in the front of my shirt as his tongue tangled with mine. He tasted sweet, like the maple syrup from his pancakes, and I groaned as he nipped playfully at my bottom lip.
“I never stopped wanting you, Pink,” I whispered. “And I still want to be with you. I was wrong to ghost you the way I did. I don’t expect you to forgive me overnight or tomorrow. But I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I’m so sorry.” I tucked a piece of green hair behind his ear.
Dean’s mouth dropped open. “The rest... Really?”
“Yeah, Pink baby, really,” I assured him.
He blushed and ducked his head. “Want to get out of here?” He gave me a shy smile.
“What about your friends?” I glanced over to find them all gawking at us.
Dean shrugged. “They’ll be fine. I’ll text them to let them know I’m leaving with you. This doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you.” He reached for my hand and laced our fingers together.
“I know. You have every right to be.” I assured him.
DEAN KEPT A SMILE ONhis face as we drove through his small town and his hand on my thigh while mine were safely on the steering wheel. He pointed out landmarks from time to time, told me happy memories about growing up in Canfield, and chatted about what it was like growing up here.
“Where’s your parents’ place?” I asked.
The smile dropped from his face. Dean sighed and the warmth of his palm on my leg disappeared as he folded his arm over his chest again. “I’m not taking you there.”
“Pink, I didn’t mean to upset you.” I was curious about the house that raised the Frost brothers. And maybe Dean’s parents were gone. It had been a while since he had returned home. Anything could have happened since then.
Dean sniffed softly. “I know.” He quickly wiped his cheek. “I want to show you the good memories, Beau, not the bad ones.”
I slowed the car and pulled into a busy parking lot. “Before you left Boston, I had planned on asking you to move in with me.”
“What?” Dean turned to stare at me. “Why are you telling me this now?” His eyes were wide with surprise.
I twisted my body to face him. “Because I still want you to do that. Cole and I both want that. When you’re ready, when you feel that I’ve earned your trust again. The offer won’t expire.”
“Beau,” he whispered. Tears shimmered in his eyes. “I can’t believe you just ignored me for weeks.”
My throat grew tight. “I’m so sorry. It was wrong. I know I hurt you.”
“Hurt me!” he exclaimed. “You have no idea. Just because I’m sitting in this car with you, showing you where I grew up and touching you, doesn’t mean I forgot about what I went through these past few weeks. I hardly slept or ate. I had to watch my friends with their significant others, wondering what I did wrongand why I couldn’t have that. My heart felt like it was ripped out of my chest.”
Dean’s chest moved as he tried to catch his breath.
“I deserve better than that. I’m a good person. I want what they have. I want love and forever with someone, too. I know in the beginning we said that it was just for fun, but somewhere along the way, that changed for me. A simple answer would have been enough, only you just ignored me like what we had meant nothing to you. And worst of all, I was terrified about you showing up with someone else. Someone you picked over me.”
Dean burst into tears and buried his face in his hands, angry sobs wracking his body. When I reached for him, he pushed me away.
