Page 17 of Adoring Delaney

“That we’ll never be together.”

Jesus, I was stupid.

“No. Now you’re listening to the wrong part of your body.”

“What does that mean?”

“You stopped listening to your heart.”

“Right, because that was working so well for me.”

“I fucked up, Delaney. I hurt you, I hurt myself, and I denied us the life we should’ve had. I’m—”

“Leave,” she cut me off.

“I know what I’ve taken—”

“You have no idea!” she shouted. “None. You can’t begin to understand what’s been taken from us.”

What the fuck?

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her entire body was shaking.

“Laney baby.” I took a step toward her and both of her hands came up to ward me off.

“Carter, if you love me, even a little bit, you’ll leave. You’ll know that I’m not strong enough to deal with this. Please, I’m begging you.”

“You already played that card, and out of respect for your father, I gave you the space you asked for. Space I told you I was done giving you. Then I spent the next four months eating shit, because I’d been wrong. I should’ve gone after you. Four months of me trying to contact you and you not responding. So, baby, while I love you with everything in me, I’m not leaving.”

“Did you stop to think why it was I haven’t answered in four months? Maybe that was because I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“What I know is almost nine months ago, something horrible happened. Something that I wasn’t home to protect you from. Something that has hurt you and marked you deep. And since then, my Delaney, the woman who listens with her heart and knows my words are bullshit, because I keep coming back to her. Because I keep loving her. I keep holding her. Because she is the only person in this world who can see me, the real me, is now gone. That’s what I know. What we don’t need is space. I need to fix—”

“You can’t fix me, Carter. No one can.”

I watched with great pain, as her eyes dulled and a sob tore through her.

I was fucking done.

I took the two steps needed, scooped her up, and carried her to our bedroom. I climbed in and settled her mostly on top of me and held on tight.

It would be hours until she cried herself to sleep.

And during that time she refused to tell me what was wrong. She refused to let me talk. All she wanted was for me to hold her.

So that’s what I did.

I held my woman as grief and sadness leaked from her eyes.

Her agony went beyond Derek Lowe taking her and well past me screwing up. It was bigger, it had lodged itself deep, and I was going to work it out, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of me.

5

Iwas sitting with my feet in the sand, eyes closed, head tipped back, enjoying the sound of the ocean. The sun was warm, the fresh salty air working its magic.

I could stay here forever. I loved Georgia. Loved living by my family. But this place, my parents’ vacation home in Myrtle Beach, was awesome. So much of my childhood was wrapped up right here on this very sliver of sand in front of me.

Lily and Lenox had purchased their house first. The second that the little cottage Aunt Lily had rented when she’d been pregnant with Carter went up for sale, Uncle Lenox bought it for her. When the one next door came available, Uncle Levi and Aunt Blake had bought it.

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