“What are you going to do?”
Kieran stares at the photos with a distant look in his eyes as if losing himself to some old memories that I’m sure he is wanting to forget.
“I don’t know.”
I close the space between us and wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face in his shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I’m sorry that you’re hurting.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“You don’t need to handle it alone.”
“I know.”
For a moment, we just hold each other, neither one of us speaking. We don’t need to.
The silence is heavy with everything we have yet to face, which is why I find myself not wanting to break it.
But Kieran does. “I’m so sick of people lying to me, Riley.”
I tense in his arms. “What do you mean?”
“Everyone’s got secrets, everyone’s hiding something, and I seem to be the one who pays for it.”
He doesn’t know it, but his words are cutting, as if he just took a knife to my skin.
I am one of those people, harboring what could end up being the biggest secret of all because I’m too much of a coward to face the reality that Kieran could walk away.
My stomach churns at the possibility, but if I tell him now when he’s in this mood, he’ll never forgive me. He’ll see my secret as just another betrayal, and I can’t bear to lose him when I’ve barely had the chance to have him.
Before I can say anything, Kieran reaches out and lifts my chin so that I have no choice but to look at him. Even after all this time, my breath catches under the intensity of his gaze.
I have every inch of him memorized, from the curve of his lips to the way his hair curls around his ears, and yet, it still catches me off guard just how beautiful he is.
This man is mine. But for how long?
“I’m sorry.” He brushes my hair out of my face. “I’m taking this out on you, and none of it’s your fault.”
“I don’t mind.” I force a smile despite the guilt that is sitting heavy on my chest.
“Well, I do. You’ve had enough to deal with without me adding to it.”
My smile warms a bit. “I think that’s how normal, healthy relationships work. I share what’s on my mind, and you do the same.”
“Is that how it works?” His eyes flick to my lips, and I hold my breath, hoping he’ll bend down and kiss me.
It feels like an eternity since I last felt his lips on mine, and yet it’s only been a few hours.
Just when I think Kieran is going to close the distance between us, he does the opposite. He drops his hands to his sides and steps out of my arms. “You’ve had enough to deal with. I should have been here for you more.”
I want to scream as I watch him put up an invisible wall, feeling the distance between us grow wider.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. But right now, I need to find Cormac before he does any more damage.”
I force myself to nod, even though my chest aches.
