As she reached the door, her hand on the handle, Dylan was there. He put his hand on the door above her head, keeping it shut. The heat of his chest against her back seeped through her clothes, searing her and sending a pleasurable shiver down her spine, as he lowered his mouth to her ear and rasped, “I didn’t kiss her, Red.”
She stiffened, turning in the tight space he left her, and glared up at him. “Oh, I suppose you’re going to tell me I imagined it all, right? Dylan, Isawyou kissing her.”
“No, Red.Sheambushedme, begging to get back together. I pushed her away and told her that we werenevergoing to happen again. I didn’t kiss her.”
She blinked, shocked. “You—you didn’t?”
His beautiful eyes were locked on hers. “No, I didn’t. I was going to find you at graduation and tell you something important, but you left. And you never let me back in.”
She couldn’t have stopped herself from asking the next question if she’d tried. “What were you going to tell me?”
His eyes turned angry suddenly. “No, Kelsi, let’s talk first about whatyoudid, howyouhurtme.”
The space between their bodies shrank as he pressed closer. Her chest heaved, brushing against his with each breath she took.
“You ignored me. Dropped me like an outgrown toy and didn’t even give me an explanation. Less than two months after telling me you loved me, you were already welcoming another man into your bed, into your heart.”
That stopped her heart completely. “What are you talking about?” She had never been more confused.
“I saw you. At the bar exam. I stayed in the same hotel, and the night before the test I went to find you. I heard someone else from our law school in the lobby say that you were on the fourth floor, and I was planning on knocking on every door until one of them opened and you were behind it.” He stepped back and raked his hands over his scalp roughly. “Except when the elevator doors opened, I saw you with Tom, dragging him into your room.”
He walked over to the bed and sat down on the corner, putting his head in his hands. He spoke directly into them this time, not looking at her. “I knew he’d liked you for years. He’d asked you out before, and you never seemed that interested, but I saw you that night and realized you’d moved on. I thought that you hadn’t really meant what you’d said to me, and that you already found someone else.” He lifted his head from his hands to look at her, unshed tears shining in his eyes. “I thought that you’d moved on from me, Kelsi. When the reality for me wasthat I would never move on from you. Iwillnever move on from you.”
I will never move on from you. Those words rattled around in her brain, igniting a sudden hope. That for him, it was still her. Because for her, it would always be him. There was no other choice.
Holding his gaze, she slowly shook her head back and forth. “Tom came into my room tostudy. That’s all. I didn’t let anyone into my bed for over a year after graduation.”
A tear slowly rolled down his cheek. “What?”
“I needed time, Dylan. After you broke my heart, I needed a break. I needed time to figure out my feelings, get my head on straight, and focus on studying for the bar. Two weeks after the exam, I went to your house.”
If he had been still earlier, he was as stiff and unmoving as a marble statue now.
“I was too late.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, pacing back and forth in front of him. “Your mom said you’d enlisted and shipped out. You left, Dylan. Without telling me, or coming to say goodbye, and all I could think about was how you lost your dad. I couldn’t lose you like that too. So I tried to forget about you. Eventually everyone stopped bringing you up in front of me.” She paused her steps and slowly faced him. “You leaving, it broke me all over again.”
Kelsi closed her eyes, trying to physically shut out the memories of the pain she’d felt when she found out he had left, for who knew how long, without even saying goodbye.
“Ask me again, Kelsi.” Dylan’s low voice washed over her, and she opened her eyes to see him standing directly in front of her.
“Ask what again?” Her voice was quiet, barely audible, but Dylan was close enough to hear each word.
“Ask me again what I wanted to tell you at graduation.”
He took another step closer to her, and she stepped backward.
“What did you want to tell me?”
Another of his steps forward, another of hers back.
“I was going to tell you ...” His voice was low, rough, and rumbling, as he took two steps forward. She took two steps back and her back hit the door. He caged her in again, leaning in over her with his hands on either side of her head against the wooden door. “That I felt the same way. That I had wanted to kiss you for as long as I could remember, and that I was going to take you on a date.”
Her eyes couldn’t leave his as he leaned in even closer.
“Ask me what I would tell you now, Red.”
She gulped, feeling his breath fan across her lips. “What would you say now?”
“Now, I would tell you that I never intend to let you go again. I lived four years without you, and it wasn’t a life at all. I’m not going to repeat that mistake.”
