“I assume you heard through the door. Do you want me to tell him to fuck off?”
“I… He said he wants to apologize?”
Patel’s lips twisted. “So hesaid.”
“Um…”
“If you want to see him, I’ll be right outside the entire time,” he said, his voice softening just a hair.
“O-okay, he can come in,” I murmured.
Patel looked like he wanted to say something, but just gave a short nod before slipping back out into the hallway.
I listened as he relayed my agreement to Jace.
“Five minutes. You raise your voice, you guilt him, or you pressure him in any way, and I’m calling security. That’ll be after I drag your ass out of there. Got it?”
“Yeah, understood,” Jace acquiesced. “Whatever gets me in that room.”
Not a minute later, the door opened.
Jace entered looking a decade older than he actually was. His beautiful dark hair was uncombed, drawn back into a messy half-ponytail. Shadows darkened his face, making him appear like he’d gone days without sleep. His beard was much thicker than it usually was, like he hadn’t been grooming himself to his normal standards.
He stopped just inside the room, his eyes desperately roaming up and down my body as if to check for anything wrong.
“Thank you for letting me in,” he said quietly.
My throat tightened. I didn’t answer.
He swallowed and nodded, like he’d expected that. “That’s okay. You don’t have to talk. I’ll do the talking. I’ll—” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Fuck. I’m so sorry. And I know I already said sorry,” he continued, taking one careful step closer, then stopping again when my shoulders tensed. “But I need you to hear it without me… without me being like I was. I know I scared you.”
His eyes shone, bright and feverish. I looked away from that intense stare, not wanting to get sucked in by it.
“I’m sorry for how I acted that day. I should’ve been thinking more about you and what you needed at that moment. Instead, I was selfish. I’ve been selfish the whole time I’ve known you, honestly. I lied to you so that I could have you.”
He stepped forward slowly, carefully watching my reaction, then sank to his knees beside the bed.
The motion knocked the breath from my lungs.
“Jace—” I whispered before I could stop myself.
“I’ve never in my life put someone else’s needs above my own.”
I frowned slightly. That didn’t sound… good.
He leaned forward just enough to rest his forearms on the mattress, not touching me.
“It’s new to me—the feelings I have for you. I should’ve been better to you from the start, and baby, I’m so fucking sorry that I wasn’t. But these weeks have torn me apart. I need you, El. I can’t fucking live without you.”
My heart squeezed.
“I’m losing you,” he went on quietly, “and I guess I deserve that. But I can’t walk away from you. Please, let me learn to put you first. Let me try to fix this. I will do anything—fuckinganything—to earn back my place in your life. Anything, baby.”
“I don’t know if I can believe you,” I said softly. Saying it felt like pushing on a bruise.
He shifted closer on his knees, eyes never leaving my face. “Let me prove to you that you can. I don’t need you to forgive me, now or ever. I just need you to give me another chance. Please, cherub. I will do anything you ask. I’ll break my fucking leg if that’s what you want. Nothing compares tothe fucking agony of losing you.”
I let out a silent gasp.
