Yet my mind was blank.
CHAPTER 9
Maryellen
Idon’t have a ton of fond memories from my childhood. But one nice thing my mom did once in a while was to bring home fresh flowers. She worked at a small grocery store in town. Every week, they got a shipment of fresh flowers delivered. Her boss would sell her the week-old flowers at a deep discount just to get them off the shelf. Personally, I thought he should have given them to her, but whatever.
When she brought home the flowers, you would have thought she had won the lottery. They were on display front and center. We didn’t have a real vase, so we used an old jar.
“Maryellen, did you see the flowers I got us today? Aren’t they just beautiful?”
Some of the prettier ones I remember were the white and pink roses. Once she brought home a big bunch of sunflowers.
It did make the house feel happier. While they were alive.
One of the first things I did when I got this apartment was get myself a vase. I also brought flowers home on occasion. I still liked the way they made me feel.
Today I had some delivered.
The flowers looked so pretty in the vase on my coffee table. The bouquet was the fullest I’d ever seen. There had to be overtwenty stems plus all the plush greenery mixed in. And every flower was white. It was exquisite. Classy while being pretty.
What I aimed for myself.
I hadn’t opened the card yet. There were two options at this point. I had given Garrett my address earlier so he’d know where to pick me up on Friday. The other option…
I slid my nail under the flap of the card, and it lifted easily. As I pulled it out, I realized there were two cards inside, with lots of writing on them. Some of the words were even crossed out.
Maryellen,
I know why you walked away. You’re protecting everything you worked for, and I never once thought that made you weak. If anything, it’s one of the reasons I fell for you. You’ve always chosen responsibility over ease, even when it cost you something. Especially when it cost you us.
But what we had wasn’t a mistake. It was real—real enough that it still follows me into every room you’re in, real enough that pretending it didn’t matter feels like lying to myself. I don’t care about titles or office politics or what anyone thinks when they look at us together. None of that scares me. The only thing that ever has is the idea of you believing I’m not worth the risk.
I won’t ask you to gamble your future on empty promises.I’m asking you to trust that I see you—not as my brother’s assistant, not as someone I shouldn’t want, but as the woman who makes me want to be betterthan the life already laid out for me. I’m not chasing something convenient. I’m choosing you.
If you’re afraid, let me be the steady one this time.Let me prove that loving me doesn’t mean losing yourself. It means having someone who will stand beside you, openly, unapologetically, and without regret.
I care what you think of me more than anyone else in this world. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend as long as it takes showing you that choosing me isn’t the wrong decision—it’s the one I’ll never walk away from.
—Chase
Shit.
Like, holy fucking shit. His words tore my heart open. I was able to make out some of the words he crossed out, and Christ, even those hit me hard. Chase was sensitive, but I never expected him to be quite this sensitive. He laid out his heart completely.
Today should not have happened in the office. I was weak and let him think there was a chance with us again. This was my fault.
But there have been so many moments between us lately.
So many times that made me feel we were meant to be. It’s been hard to continue to walk away from him.
There could never be an us, no matter how much he wanted it.
Or me.
There was so much he didn’t know and never could. Him or Gage. It would destroy them, and me.
It had to be this way. As much as it hurt.
