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I flick an annoyed glance over my shoulder. “Thought you were going to stay on your side of the bed.”

“I think we both know I was lying when I said that,” he mumbles and I wiggle in his arms again.

“Let me go.”

With a huff, he releases me and I roll over in bed to face him. He cracks an eye open and smiles, reaching out, brushing his thumb over my cheek. It feels so damn good even though I know it shouldn’t. God, this wouldn’t be so hard if I didn’t miss him.

“Morning, baby.”

I shake my head. “Don’t call me that.”

“Tate,” he breathes, frustration lacing his tone and I sigh right along with him.

“How many times do I have to tell you that this is over before you’ll believe me?” I ask, motioning between the two of us.

“Ten times…” he says and I arch a brow. “Every day for the rest of our lives.”

“Lincoln,” I growl, flopping to my back and throwing my arm over my eyes. Because of all my years of avoiding relationships, I really am inexperienced and I think that’s part of the reason that, before I learned of his deception, I trusted Lincoln so completely. In my mind he was the one man who would never hurt me but then he did and I don’t know how to move forward from that.

“How many times do I have to apologize for this?”

“Ten times everyday for the rest of our lives,” I snarl in annoyance and he nods.

“Done.”

I shake my head, pointing a finger in his face. “No. I wasn’t serious.”

“You know what,” he prompts before rolling on top of me. I buck my hips, trying to get him off but he’s too damn heavy. “Listen to me. Yeah, I lied to you and I kept things from you but that doesn’t change the fact that the moment you walked into my life, I fell head over heels in love with you.”

“It changed everything.”

He shakes his head, reaching across to the bedside table and pulling something out before slamming the drawer shut again. Sunlight glints off the diamond ring in his hand as he holds it out in front of me. I suck in a breath.

“I bought this one week after I met you because right from the jump, I knew you were it for me. I played it cool with anyone who asked but I was already planning a life with you and I know I screwed up by lying to you, Tate, but I never meant to hurt you. If anything, all I ever wanted was to keep you safe.”

“You didn’t mean to hurt me and yet, I’m still hurt. Am I just supposed to be okay with that?”

He nods, grabbing my hand. He sets the ring in my palm before wrapping his hand around mine and forcing it closed. “I know you’re hurt, baby, and you have to admit that it’s not all my fault. Yeah, I hid things from you and I lied to you but this mess was coming for you whether I was here or not. This is on you now and you have a choice to make.”

“What?”

“You can either forgive me and put this ring on your finger. I can’t promise to never screw up again or unintentionally hurt you but I do promise that I’ll be right there by your side, fighting for you and fighting for us until my very last breath. We’ll face any challenge together and I’ll spend every second of my life loving you with every piece of me.”

I swallow as a lump builds in my throat. “What’s the second option?”

“You can become your mother. You can toss this ring in the trash and spend the rest of your life loving a man that you can never be with. The choice is yours.”

“What happened to you never walking away from me?” I ask, my voice wobbling as I think about losing him forever. White-hot pain pierces my chest.

“I’ll always love you, Tate, and if you choose to toss this ring away, I’ll never be with anyone else because I’ve found everything that I’ve ever wanted in you but you were also right when you said that this is a little sick. I’m not your punching bag but I’ll be everything else to you for the rest of time if you let me.”

Without another word, he climbs off me and walks into the bathroom. I watch him until the door closes and a soft sob bubbles out of me as I think over what he just said. When faced with those two choices, I don’t know how I could ever possibly choose living my life without Lincoln in it. Yeah, he lied to me but I’m not ready to walk away from him either so I need to find a way to put this behind me.

The bathroom door opens and I glance over as he walks out in a pair of jeans hanging loose on his hips. “You want some breakfast?”

“Um… yeah,” I whisper, blinking at him. How does he look so unaffected, like that entire conversation never happened? “Are we going to talk about this?”

He shakes his head. “I’ve said everything I need to say. You can put the ring on when you’re ready or give it back to me. Like I said, the choice is yours. Now, get dressed and come eat.”