“Man, I’ve missed that,” he said.
Misseddidn’t begin to cover it. But that weed stretched and twined, strangling every good thought and feeling his kiss had planted in her heart.
He drew back. “Shelby?”
“Give me a minute.” She was breathless. Mindless. His kiss, his touch, had scrambled her thoughts.
“You do the same to me. Rattle me. All these years I’ve let myself believe what we had must’ve been a fluke. Youth, hormones, whatever.”
“Um, nope.”
He chuckled. His eyes sparkled in the firelight.
The exchange lightened her mood. They’d always had passion, yes. But they used to have fun together too. He could be funny when he let down his guard. She used to wish he’d let others see that lighter side of himself.
And she’d forgotten about this bolder side of herself. He’d always brought that out in her. She’d been the best version of herself when she was with him, and she’d missed that. Hadn’t realized how much until now.
“What happened between you and Logan?”
“I broke up with him on Tuesday. It just wasn’t working. He didn’t... We were always a dead end, I think.” And what about Gray and her? Weren’t they a dead end too—for completely different reasons?
“I almost feel sorry for the guy.”
Their gazes met and clung as her thoughts spun. His life was hours away from Grandville and he wasn’t welcome here. Just being back in this town must bring back such awful memories for him. “What are we going to do?”
His thumb swept across her cheek, his eyes growing intense. “I want to be with you, Shelby.”
Her heart did a slow roll. “But how will that work?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
That was too vague. She’d gone into this the first time thinking they’d figure it out, and look what happened. She drew back. “That’s not a plan.”
“I know we have some obstacles—”
“Putting it mildly.”
He acknowledged that with a nod. “All right. Fair. We live in separate towns.”
“And you’ve wanted out of Grandville since forever—not that I can blame you. That’s just the beginning.”
“You’d never leave your grandmother’s shop, and your family hates me with a passion.” His eyes gleamed. “That about cover it?”
Everything except the biggest obstacle. Might as well put that on the table too. “Then there’s the past. You up and left me, Gray. You left me just like my mom did.”
The gleam faded. His expression turned stricken. Either it was a trick of the firelight or his eyes glazed with a sheen of tears.
He hadn’t realized. Hadn’t made the connection till now.
“Shelby... I’m so sorry. The last thing I ever meant to do was hurt you. What an idiot I was.”
“I’m not trying to rub your nose in it. I’ve forgiven you—but I’m not a slow learner.”
“Neither am I. I’ve paid for my stupidity a hundred times over by losing the best thing I ever had. I’ll never stop being sorry for leaving you the way I did or for the pain I caused you—especially now that I understand it better.” He pinned her with an unswerving look. “But, Shelby... I will never up and leave you again. You have my word on that.”
She wanted to believe him. She could see he meant what he said.But they had other problems and no foreseeable solutions. It all seemed rather hopeless.
“Relationships always have obstacles. And we’re not kids this time. I know I have to rebuild trust with you. I’m willing to put in the effort. We can figure all this out one step at a time.”
