That he was chasing after me.
I shake my head to dispel these stupid, useless thoughts as I keep backing away. “Well, you should stop. You promised, Reed. Youpromisedthat we wouldn’t see each other again.”
“I didn’t.”
“What?”
His eyes pierce into mine. “You wanted me to promise but I didn’t.”
I stare back at him, studying his features, which look gorgeous. As gorgeous as ever. Even though his hair’s grown out and his strands are messy, all disheveled, probably courtesy of his fingers. Even though there’s a certain kind of strain on his features. A certain kind of tiredness and something so akin to regret.
And I realize that he’s right.
He never promised.
I wanted him to but he didn’t.
So I guess he didn’t break it then, the promise. Because he never made it in the first place.
When he notices the realization on my features, his jaw becomes even tighter, his fingers fisting at his sides. “I know I’m a bastard. I know I’ve lied to you. I’ve broken promises before. But I’m never going to make a promise to you that I won’t keep. Not anymore. Andthat’sa promise.”
I finally reach the end of this office.
It’s not a very large space to begin with and from what I can see from the corner of my eye, it looks the same. A large wooden desk by the door, a dark leather couch adjacent to it and a dresser right opposite the desk.
Which I touch with my spine and come to a halt, my lips parting.
At his promise.
At the look in his eyes, stark and intense, that makes me want to believe him.
I swallow, pressing my hands on the dresser behind me. “So then why are you here? What do you want?”
My eyes go wide when I say those words.
Those words from our past:What do you want?
Whenever I said those words to him, they ended up changing my life. They ended up being my doom and I can’t believe that I’ve said them now.
Even my body knows it.
Thethinginside my body knows it and I feel flutters in my belly. Vicious, brutal. Fierce.
As soon as I say these words, Reed steps away from the door.
He starts to walk toward me. “You.”
Even though I knew he was going to say that, I fist my hands and press my spine into the dresser even more. “Me what?”
“To tell me the truth.”
“What?”
As I said before, this isn’t a big space and so he reaches me in a few long steps. And when he delivers his next statement, he’s right here, leaning down over me, his wolf eyes all fiery. “Because this time it’s not me, it’s you. Who lied.”
“Lied about what?”
Bending down even more, he puts both his hands on the dresser behind me and I feel a shake at my back. “About Toby.”
