“You would have kissed me back?” He looks genuinely surprised. “I thought you would have just kicked me in the balls.”
I burst out laughing. Not because it’s funny, but because I need a break from this torture. It feels so good to laugh that the sentiment takes over, and before I know it, I can’t stop. Tears rim my eyes, and everything in me releases the tension through a cathartic laugh.
It dies too quickly, and when I look at Xander, I find what I used to expect but forgot how much it meant—admiration, pride, love.
It kills the laughter, because his feelings, written all over his face, are too real. And I don’t want to be the person who steps all over it. But we have so much to rebuild, and I’m not yet certain we even can. “I guess tonight is not the night for a kiss.”
“Unfortunately, you’re right. As much as I wish it was different,” he says, without an agenda, without controlling the situation. Just accepting. “I’m glad I didn’t kiss you that night because you’re right, it would have been the end of us.”
He takes my hand and brushes his lips over myknuckles. “You were always right, Coraline. When you objected to our age gap, because let’s face it, you were more experienced in the art of relationships, and I should have let you lead. Even when you objected to our financial differences, I ended up using my money to destroy us after all.”
Blame is not going to help us. Because I know he recognizes his errors. Because rehashing it won’t help us move forward. “Xander—” I try to stop him.
“But despite all of it, Coraline, you and I are meant to be together. The pain of the past months taught me that. And I’m not going to stop trying.”
Chapter 36
Cora
I think I’m dating my ex-husband.
Lily
Are you happy?
Saar
Sounds like a chick-flick plot twist.
Celeste
Shut up and pay, van den Linden.
Was there a bet going on?
Celeste
No
Saar
Of course
Lily
I didn’t participate but I’m glad you’re giving yourself asecond chance.
Saar
She’s giving him a second chance. One he doesn’t deserve.
Yet.
Celeste
Oh, playing hard to get.
Protecting my heart at all costs.
