I lean forward and press a soft kiss against his jaw. “I know, Wes.” But thoughts of the spring break trip have guilt stirring in my chest, and I bite the inside of my cheek.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I think…I think something might have happened on the trip.”
His jaw clenches again. It seems like he’s holding his breath when he asks, “What do you mean?”
“With Chloe,” I murmur. “And…Mason.”
Wes pushes up to a seated position, and I do the same, tucking my legs under me. He looks at me with dismay. “What?”
“I can’t besure,but I know something was off with her. Wrong. I could tell somethinghappened, I just don’t know what. And then she left so abruptly…” My eyes start to burn, and I blink back tears, staring down at my hands. “If I’d reported him…if I’d done something…”
Wes reaches out and takes my hands in his. He squeezes them, thumbs stroking over my palms. “Ivy. Ivy, look at me.” Slowly, I lift my head and meet his determined gaze. “You were a wreck when I met you. I can’t imagine how you were before that. You did what you could, which wassurvive.You can’t carry the weight of other people’s trauma on your shoulders. You can’t. No one expects you to.”
“But Chloe?—”
“If you’re at fault, which you’re not, then I’m at fault. I’m the one who invited him on the fucking trip. I’m the one who was too blind to see who he really was as a person. He wasmyfriend. It was my job to protect you…and I failed.”
Now it’s my turn to squeezehishands. “None of it is your fault either.”
He shrugs his shoulders, attempting a weak smile. “Maybe. Maybe not. I want you to know, though…” He trails off for a moment, like he’s rethinking his statement.
“What?” I urge.
“I want you to know that if you ever did want to report him, I’d support you.”
My muscles tense up, and my eyes go wide. “What?” I squeak.
“I’m not saying youshoulddo anything, but if you ever wanted to, I’d be there. I’d support you. One hundred percent. No question.”
“Okay,” I whisper, trying to breathe through the rapid pounding of my heart. It’s not a conversation I want to have—not a conversation I feelreadyto have—but the thought of what Mason may or may not have done to Chloe makes me feel sick to my stomach.
“Come here.” He lies back down on the bed, pulling me with him so that our bodies are facing each other. Our cheeks rest against the pillow as our eyes meet.
And then we just…look at each other. We each take comfort in the other’s presence. In our long overdue reunion. And despite the emotional turmoil of the past twelve hours, I feel relieved. Our intentions are laid bare, our souls exposed. For the first time, Wes seesallof me, every last scar.
And he’s still here.
“Ivy?” he asks, eyes boring into mine.
“Yeah?” I whisper, studying his face. He looks so vulnerable, with his puffy eyes and disheveled hair and a pillow crease across his left cheek. “What is it?”
His voice is low. Rough. “Don’t push me away again, okay? I’m here for you. I’m all in on this. Don’t push me away.”
“I won’t,” I breathe, my heart swelling up to fill my chest. “I’ll never. Not again. I lo?—”
I cut myself off, my pulse skyrocketing. Wes’s eyes search mine, so hopeful that my heart quakes. “You what?”
“I love you, okay?” I blurt, unable to hold back the words any longer. “I love you. I love you maybe too much. I—” I swallow. “I think about you constantly, Wes. And maybe being apart was necessary at the time, but I hated every second of it. It felt like…it felt like half of my heart was missing.”
Instead of smiling at me, the way I thought he would, he looks serious—too serious for easygoing Wes—and my stomach drops out. Did I misunderstand him when he said he was “all in?”
“Wes?” I prompt, my voice barely audible.
Finally,finally, his mouth cracks into a smile. His face alights despite the heaviness of last night, and his hand moves up to my cheek, his thumb grazing my skin in a sweet, soft gesture. His throat bobs as he swallows, and when he speaks, his voice is thicker than before. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”
My heart leaps. I suck in a quick breath. “Really? So…”
