I’ve missed it too much.
“Stop running,” he keeps tracking me.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” I retort. Stopping, my boots skid across the gravel momentarily before I spin around to face him. I fold my arms across my chest.
Where the hell is my sister’s car?!
“I fucking do,” he growls.
My stupid heart does backflips as he gets closer. I hate that he still has this effect on my body. My pussy is already weeping for him. My flesh is already missing the way it feels when we collide. But he doesn’t get to do this to me. Not after witnessing Georgia and him together—clearly happy. Well, I get to try to be happy too.
A few silent long beats pass as we stare at each other. His nostrils flare, and the veins in his arms bulge. Losing my internal emotional battle, a tear escapes my lashes. Heartache is written between us. I can feel it.
“You left me,” he says with a broken tone. “You fucking left me, Coraline.” I drink him in fully this time, my chin dropping as my vision blurs. He’s lost weight. He’s still built and muscular, but he’s leaner, and the fire in his eyes has turned into something cruel.
“I don’t sleep,” he starts, then pauses.
I don’t either.
“Merelyn died, andyou made me let you go. I had to grieve alone. I lost her and you. These past few months have been hell.”
I think about it all the time. I think about him and Merelyn every day and pray that he doesn’t lose himself alone in Alaska. I thought I was making the right choice.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, agony painting every syllable.
He takes another step closer, but I’m too weak to step back—to run.
“I wanted to forget about you. I wanted to learn how to let you go. I wanted to grieve without having to take pills and drink myself until I died in that cabin, too.”
I swallow. Guilt gnawing at me. Georgia helped him learn how to let me go.
“I saw you with her. With Georgia.” I accuse.
“Yes,” he confirms, simply with a slow nod.
Fuck. It hurts. This hurts too much. I smile and mirror his nod with my own, looking at the sky instead of his handsome face.
“You think I was going to wait for the woman who left without even saying goodbye? What did you expect? Huh? That I wasn’t going to stay angry at you? That I was just going to deteriorate in that cabin and feel sorry for myself?” His brows narrow.
I look down, unable to meet his sad blue eyes. Something twists inside my chest. I can physically feel the hope I had when I dreamed of him turning into agony. She was there for him when I chose to leave. It makes sense.
“The answer is no.” His voice deepens.
He’s stabbing me in the chest with his words. Hearing and seeing him happy with someone else is a slap in the face, but I did this to myself. I chose to be scared of the one person who brings me to life.
I turn to walk away, holding my chin high. I don’t want anyone to see me fall apart…especially him. What did I expect? I hurt him.
Suddenly, his hand curls around my hand.
“I’m not going to wait around, Cora. I’m not going to be angry.” His hands wrap around my face, cupping the back of my head. “I’m going to reclaim what never should’ve left.”
My brows knit together. An electrocution of hope is reborn in my soul. Warmth travels through me, and my eyes widen. Did I hear him right?
“But Georgia?” I shake my head. “I saw you together tonight. She?—”
“She was being Georgia,” he cuts me off. “She flew out here to support me. She knows my heart belongs to another woman, and she’s having a hard time accepting it.”
I shake my head in disbelief.
