“The reputation I hold because I’m his son,” he grits. “I hate it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Caleb’s eyes lower. “I’m used to it.”
“Doesn’t mean you should be.” I glance down at the drawings again. “You’re very talented. I meant what I said the first time I saw them. They’re incredible.”
“Thank you.”
My hands clasp together in front of me as I tilt my head to look up at him.
“How have you been?” he asks.
“Surviving.”
Caleb frowns. “Just surviving?”
“I guess,” I sigh.
“I want you to be living.” He tenderly tucks a curl behind my ear.
“I think I stopped living a long time ago.”
Something flashes in Caleb’s eyes that looks a lot like hurt. “How can I make it better?” he whispers.
“I’m not sure,” I admit.
They’re my personal battles. Not his.
I turn back to his desk, unable to stand the emotion in his eyes. But I don’t get far, not before he wraps his arms around me from behind. He tugs my back against my chest and lowers his face down into the crook of my neck. I close my eyes as his lips drag over my pulse point.
“I don’t want you to be suffering alone.”
“I have most of my life.”
Caleb shudders around me, making my skin prickle. “When will you tell me about it?”
I tighten. “Not yet.”
“Okay,” he murmurs, and I’m grateful that he’s not pushing for it.
I’m not ready to pour out my deepest, darkest secrets.
He kisses my throat once more, and I relax into his arms. “Do you need me to go?”
Caleb shakes his head. “No. I have all the time in the world for you.”
My throat clogs with emotion because I don’t think anyone has ever really made time for me. Ava and Jaxon let me into their home, sure, but not like this.
Not in a romantic way.
I might have hated him at the start, but this feels different. Something has changed, and I’m grasping onto it.
28
EVAN
“You shouldn’t say things like that to me,” I murmur.
