“I don’t understand why you don’t just tell the girl you love her. It’s clear you do. You’ve loved her since the moment you saw her on TV.”
Mom was probably right. But I’d had no idea what love even was back then. And I’d spent so many years hating Demi, it was hard to believe I’d ever once loved her.
“I can’t do that to her. I can’t ask her to live with a locked heart. I don’t even know if she’ll remember me in ten days. Worse—if she’ll even know herself.”
Mom’s grip tightened.
“As far as I can tell, even with it locked, she has more heart than most people I know.”
She leaned in, voice soft but fierce.
“And if she forgets who you are, then find her. Remind her. Son, love is worth fighting for. You, of all people, should know that.”
She smiled, teasing but telling the truth.
“I don’t care if you aren’t her true love. I don’t see him anywhere helping her the way you are. Even if you’re being stupid by keeping yourself from her.”
She let go of my hand.
“You’re just hurting her. And yourself.”
I let her words sink in. I wanted nothing more than to tell Demi I loved her, but . . . “What if down the road she resents me for preventing her from finding her true love?”
Mom’s eyes didn’t waver.
“Did you ever stop to think that’s what you’re already doing? She so clearly wants to love you.”
“But she can’t.”
Why couldn’t she understand? Demi had locked her heart.
Mom only shrugged.
“I don’t believe it. I see the way she is with Junie. How she talks about her mom. How she stays away from you because she thinks that’s what you want. That girl loves. I don’t even think she realizes it.”
Her words cut deep because they rang true.
I’d watched Demi heal people, listen to them, care for them—even when her own life was on the line. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.
And more than that, she’d changed since she’d been here. It was as if she’d uncovered some hidden part of her heart all on her own.
Was that possible?
Could I really ask her to risk all of her heart for me? Could I ask her to forgo the chance at true love? Worse—could I ask her to risk the wrath of Zeus if she failed this quest?
Would she thinkIwas worth the risk?
Chapter XXXIX
Demi
“Howwasyourdatewith Asher?”
Cassie smirked as soon as I walked in the door. She was bent over the stove, stirring something that smelled like jasmine tangled with sea air.
Yes, I’d been left to date Asher—Jessica’s ex. Honestly, I think they only kept the poor guy on the show because who else was I supposed to date at this point? Everyone had basically paired off with only a few days left:
Braden and Maggie.
