For my soulmate.
“Leave him,” Gavin breathed then, his voice shaking. “Leave him so I can give you everything.”
My heart dropped. It shattered onto the floor, leaving a void in its wake. Gavin hugged me closer. I wanted to tell him I would. I wanted to tell him I was his, that I would pack my things and run away with him anywhere he wanted.
Because he was my person. My forever.
My soul was his, and his was mine.
But fucking hell, I didn’t know where to start.
“I will stand by your side as you do,” he said. “I’ll bring you boxes and pack up your clothes, toothbrush, and every book you own. You don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to fear walking out. Just… leave him, ” he pleaded. “I’ve lost you twice. I can’t lose you again.”
I started to pull back, to tell him he would never have to lose me again, that I just needed a few days to pack my things and talk to Tyler, but slowly, I felt him sinking in front of me. Dropping down to one knee, hands still clenching me like he couldn’t dare let me go.
“Love me.Marryme,” he said, and a sob choked in my throat. He reached for my hand and brought it to his lips, my heart nearly exploding in response seeing him this way. “Marry me in the mountains of Greece, in your black dress with a bouquet of sunflowers and poppies,” he whispered. “Just us.”
Tears escaped my eyes and fell down onto our hands. I couldn’t breathe. Fuck, thispain. This absolute agony. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much.
But god, I did.
I fucking did.
I sank to my knees as he bowed again, and I took hold of his face. I didn’t know what to say. I held him, my forehead sinking to his, and he wrapped his arms around me.
“If you need me to beg, I will,” he whispered before pulling back to look at me. “I will plead, steal, and do anything else you need me to do. Just say you'll return to me when you leave here today. Say you won’t run. Say you love me and are as much mine as I am yours.”
I wiped away the tear falling down his face. “You don’t have to beg,” I breathed. “I’m already yours.”
Trembling, we held each other, both too afraid to let go of the other. I wanted to kiss him so badly. My mouth opened and closed a breath from his, quaking in the magnetism of his presence, our bodies and souls yearning for that closure.
I wasn’t sure he believed me, and I didn’t blame him. Although it was the truth, I was his and had never known how to be anything else. No other relationship could compare to what we had.
“I have to go,” I whispered as I released him.
Gavin launched to his feet with me, reaching for my wrist again to pull me back. “Chloe, wait—“
“Gavin, I have to go,” I nearly pleaded.
I wasn’t running from him. I just needed time to think of how to do this and get what I wanted without severe repercussions.
“Chloe—“
“I need time,” I blurted as I met his eyes. “I’m not running. Let me figure this out,” I added a little more softly.
He swallowed, his chest falling, and he took a step back. “Okay.”
My throat was dry. I wanted to hug and kiss him. But I couldn’t. Not yet. He deserved more than a tarnished kiss and touch with this godforsaken ring on my finger.
I stepped up to him one last time, my forehead to his, my hand to his cheek, and he hugged me close. “I’m not running. I swear,” I whispered. “I’ll come back to you.”
I didn’t say anything else before bolting off down the path.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT - CHLOE
I NEARLY WRECKED driving to the apartment.
Tears clouded my vision. My heart, or whatever was left of it, felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. My back ached with the weight of my own anxiety.
