Page 57 of Give Me Strength

I groan. “What for?”

“For… You pushed me away.” His voice gets closer. “You’ve always taken a step back. I ignored that. And I?—”

“I kissed you back.”

“You—”

“I like you, Gilbert.”

His footsteps stop. He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to.

I shouldn’t give in to this. I know that I shouldn’t. Yet, there’s something about this that tugs at my heartstrings.

It’s the tone of his voice that gets to me. He sounds a little… desperate. It almost makes me want to give in, to cave and open up for him.

Gosh, this is hard.

“I really, really like you,” I continue, keeping my eyes squeezed shut and my arm over my eyes. “And I know you like me too. So what’s the issue?”

He doesn’t respond to that either.

“Is it me?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

Oh. Hurts to hear him say it out loud, but that’s still too general for my liking. So, I power on. “Am I too inexperienced for your liking?”

“No.”

“Is it my age?”

“God, no.”

“Then what is it?”

He doesn’t respond to that either.

“I don’t understand you, Gilbert.”

“I know.”

“You’re hot one minute, cold the next. I’m not… I refuse to do this dance with you. I still have my pride, and I will not beg you to touch me. Either you want me, or you don’t.”

“It’s not that simple.”

If I had a penny for every time someone said those words to me, I’d be at least five times richer than I already am.

But tonight, I can’t help the scowl that forms. “Try me.”

“You consume me, Ash.”

My core clenches in response, as those four words fill the air between us, settling in the space with a stillness that rocks me to my core.

“You consume me too,” my voice is raspy, wavering slightly.

He doesn’t say anything to that either.

The room stills. My eyes are still closed and I assume he slipped out, went back to his room.

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