Page 89 of Until We Meet Again

"I like you."

I'm an asshole.

"Then I guess that's where we have a problem because I'm past that. I'm…" Her voice trails off, leaving me needing the rest of that sentence for reasons I can't even begin to understand.

"You're what?"

"I don't know, Zane."

"Finish what you were going to say."

Tears shimmer in her eyes as she gazes at me. Then, with a quiver in her voice, she softly says six words that instantly change everything between us. "I'm falling in love with you."

I knew those words were coming, yet I couldn't help but push for them. But now that I've heard them, their weight crushes my soul, and I realize I wasn't ready for them.

Nurses, tubes, crying, screaming, Kim.

This beautiful woman in front of me is everything my sister promised me, and that scares the living shit out of me because then I have to believe in soulmates, something I've never had any belief in before. How can there be one person on the planet who's meant to complete you? And what are the chances of finding that person? It sounds like a fairytale, and I don't live in that kind of world. Yet here I am, staring down at someone who has poured themselves so deeply inside me, silently begging for us to be vulnerable together.

But my heart is a mess. It's scarred and fractured to the point where I don't have the strength to give love or accept it back—not when I know how easily it can be ripped away.

"I need to get out of here." She rises from the couch, and I quickly jump to my feet, reaching for her, knowing I can't let her run.

"Woah, hey, wait. Don’t do that. Don’t run from me." My hands tremble as they grip the sides of her face, my heart hammering with a mix of fear of losing her and the need to show her how I feel. "I’m completely addicted to you, Tessa," I whisper as a sob catches in her throat. "I’ve never wanted another person like this. Half the time, I can’t get my head straight because the only thing I can think about is you."

I'm hurting her. Despite telling her what she means to me, she's hurt.

"Can that ever be enough for you?"

I feel like the world's biggest piece of shit.

"I tell you I'm in love with you, and your response is that you can never really love me back, and you want to know if I'm good with that?"

I'm a prick.

"I'm sorry."

The dull ache in my chest is almost unbearable. I'm hurting her, and I hate myself for it. I hate the way she's looking at me right now, like if she had the power, she'd strip away everything she feels for me.

Chapter 39

Tessa

Dear dumbass heart that did a shitty job of protecting us, why him? Why the man who would rather lose us than love us?

I never thought I'd fall for Zane—not this hard, not like this—but he stole my gravity and inscribed his name on my heart before I realized it.

I shouldn't have felt the way I did the first time I said those words to someone. I should've been terrified, but in the most incredible way, and yet I knew the moment they left my lips, it would be the end of us because I couldn't ever take those words back.

"Tessa, I’m all shades of fucked up. I’ve gone through some stuff, which is no excuse, but…"

"I get it. You're scared. Do you think I'm not?" I say, stepping back from him. "Have you ever been in love before, Zane?" Tears threaten to fall from my eyes as I wait for his answer.

He shakes his head, and I barely make out the "no" that escapes his lips.

"Neither have I, and do you know what's sad? If I could turn it off and stop feeling this way about you, I would. I don't want to love you."

"Why?" he whispers.

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