“No, sweetheart,” I said softly. “None of it was true.”
“And you know the worst thing,” he whispered, his hands twitching. “All the time I spent with Hayden today, all I could think about was how easy it was to make him happy. How easy it was to spend time with him. Howeasyit would be to love him.”
Tears were blurring my own vision now.Fuck.
“Why wasn’t it easy for them to make me happy?” Reid’s voice cracked, but he didn’t stop. “Why didn’t they spend time with me? Why didn’t theylove me?”
I couldn’t stand it any longer. I didn’t have any answers for him, other than that they were cunts who should never have had children in the first place.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t comfort him though.
Gathering him in my arms, I hugged him tight. One of my hands went into his hair as I cradled his sobbing form, the other gently rubbing his back as I soothed him.
When he was able to catch his breath long enough to speak, it sent another piercing shot at my heart. “Why am I so unlovable?”
Never before had my path forward been clearer.
Easing him back slightly, I cupped his face. “Yer not unlovable, Reid. Far from it.”
He shook his head, tears continuing to stream. “Obviously I am, Ev. No one loves me.”
“That’s not true. I do.”
Reid’s breath caught. “What?”
“I love ye, Reid,” I said quietly. “I don’t know when it happened. It seems to have snuck up on me like a silent wave. I didn’t realise it was there until it knocked me off my feet. But I’m so glad it did, sweetheart. Even if nothing more happens between us, even if what we have now is the extent of it, I’ll always know that my life is brighter because you’ve been in it.”
“But…” Reid’s mouth opened and closed a few more times as he searched for something else to say. An argument that might change my mind.
As if that could exist.
I kissed him lightly. “I don’t tell ye this with any expectations, Reid. And I don’t want you to feel any pressure either. But I couldn’t let another minute of your life pass where you believed you were unloved. Because ye are, sweetheart. I love you so much it terrifies me, because this feeling? It keeps growing. I don’t know how much more room there is for it, but I know my heart will find the space, because it’s you.”
“Goodness,” he said faintly. “This is quite a love declaration. Kinda wish I’d thought to whip my phone out so I could watch it back later.” His face turned suddenly pensive. “Do ye think people used to set up video cameras to catch proposals? Oh, I wonder when the first recording of a proposal was taken.”
It was so beautifullyhimthat I just smiled. “We should definitely add that to the list.”
“Sorry.” He flushed. “First time someone tells me they love me and I fall down a rabbit hole.”
“I love that ye did,” I said simply. “I love ye, Reid. All of ye.”
His throat bobbed. “That’s going to take some getting used to. Good thing we’ve got lots of time.”
The realisation of what I’d led Reid here to tell him smacked me in the face. I’d been so caught up in him, that I’d almost forgotten.
Almost.
Sadly, I didn’t think there was a way for me to forget entirely, even if I wanted to.
“About that, Reid…we need to talk.”
Chapter 31
Reid
Evan’s declaration had lit a fire in my soul. One I was slightly afraid of. That I didn’t want to draw too close to in case I got burned.
It wasn’t overwhelming me in the way I’d thought it might though. I couldn’t say I was in the right place now, but I also couldn’t say I wouldn’t ever get there.
