“I didn’t fuck her that night. I told you that.”
“But you did today.”
He shakes his head, pumping his fists at his sides, the muscles along his tatted arms flexing over and over. “She showed up unexpected. Yes, she wanted to ‘fuck,’ but we didn’t. I told her I’m moving. She seemed to like the plant, so I told her to take it. You were gone. What did it matter?”
My name is Scarlet Stone, and I’ve been told I have a fiery personality when it comes to men. Of course, the only people who tell me that are men.
“Gone? GONE!?” I throw my hands in the air. Then I press my palms to the side of my head. “I’ve beenhere! I’ve been waiting for you. I destroyed a good man to prove my love for you. I laid my heart at your feet and you stomped the living shit out of it. The day I found out I had a second chance at life, with endless possibilities, the only—onlything I knew for certain was…” my voice cracks just like my heart “…that I wanted you.”
With one blink, the last shred of my composure evaporates. I didn’t think I possibly had anything else to lay on the line. I was wrong. So here it goes.
“I know the words…” I can’t stop my voice from shaking, my tears from falling “…were lies. I didn’t want us to beanythingbecause I really felt I hadnothingto give, especially time. But what happened—every undefined moment—was the mosthonest thing I have ever experienced. For me, nothing has ever been more true.”
There it is. No regrets. I’m counting breaths not seconds. I will no longer waste a single one on something that is not real. No more hiding behind lies and fear. Cancer or not, I could die tomorrow, and I can’t imagine taking a single unspoken emotion to my grave.
I wish he’d say something. Every inch of me feels cut open, exposed… completely raw.
“Thirty-six,” he whispers. “That’s how many minutes passed between Daniel telling me you had terminal cancer and you telling both of us that you were going to live.”
A shaky breath sends a shiver down my spine as he erases the space between us, one slow step at a time.
“For thirty-six minutes I couldn’t find one single breath to take. For thirty-six minutes…” He swallows hard, clenching his jaw.
My palm presses to his cheek. He closes his eyes and leans into my touch, his hand gently encircling my wrist.
“Tell me somethingreal,” I whisper.
“I spent thirty-six minutes contemplating putting a bullet in my own head.” He opens his eyes.
Breathe, Scarlet.
I can’t count breaths if I can’t remember how to breathe.
“B-but you said… you didn’t love me.”
Theo cups the back of my neck and presses his forehead to mine. “I lied.”
I fist his shirt. “Say it, and…mean it.”
His lips brush mine.
I inch back, shaking my head. “Say it.”
He reaches for my lips again, his hold on my neck tightening.
My hands release his shirt then push against his chest. “Say. It.”
Theo growls, backing me into the wall, towering over me. Before I can protest, his mouth is on mine, our tongues vying for control of something that we both know can never truly be controlled.
“N-n-no!” I rip my lips from his, turning my head to the side to catch my breath.
He grabs my head and crashes his mouth to mine again. “N-no!” I yank his hair. “Say—”
His lips attack mine again.
I wriggle out of his hold once more. “SAY IT!”
Our bodies could not be any closer without actually touching, my chest rising and falling as rapidly as his. He looks like a wolf ready to attack again. I will be his sheep. All he has to do issay it.
