Page 12 of Give You Up

“Who exactly are you speaking of?” I turn my head, freeing me from his hold.

“Dare Sterling. Ditch his ass and I am yours. All yours, Syn.”

“You’reencouragingme to cheat?”

“Nah, babe. I detest cheaters. What I’m asking is for you to break it off with him.”

“You’re that confident I would choose you over him?”

“There’s no debate who is the better choice. The right choice.”

Cocky some? My breaths hitch in my chest, and my heartbeat speeds up. Taron’s take-charge, take-no-prisoners attitude is what drew me to him. What made being with him exciting and unpredictable.

Except I am done with unpredictable. I need order. The way he is looking at me, with his jaw locked and his dark eyes a storm over the horizon, is not orderly. His expression conjures images of war and chaos.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

God, he is persistent. Another trait I admire in him. It’s how Taron became the best on the field.

“He’s had three years of my life and understands me best. I’m not the same girl you left behind, Taron.”

“Ileftyoubehind? Remind me again, who cheated on who? Who ghosted who? Who dumped who and who got no closure?”

A knot forms in my throat. I look away from the agony on his face. “Let’s not talk about the past, Taron. It’s done. Over.”

“Not for me it isn’t. I need closure, Syn.”

“How will us being together give you that? You hate me.”

“Yeah, I did. I hated you so much I let you destroy me for other girls.”

He doesn’t say any more, and doesn’t need to. He destroyed me for other guys too. No guy comes close to what Taron had me feeling all those years ago.

“Are you with him for his money? I hear he’s worth millions.”

“Billions.” I set the record straight, then realize it’s the wrong thing to say.

He clamps his jaw tight, and I am worried he’ll break his jaw.

“It’s not his money. He’s my friend, my best friend.”

Taron scoffs. “A girl and a guy can’t be friends.”

“Wewere friends,” I remind him.

“And look how that turned out.”

Warm nights making out in the bed of his truck, experimenting with tasting and touching one another. His groans reverberating against my skin. His thick fingers in my hair. My hair fisted in his hands as his mouth devoured mine in a kiss that left me breathless and needing more. More kisses. More touching. More of my hair wrapped around his thick fingers.

I’d go down on him. He’d go down on me. But we never went all the way, and that was what I promised him we would do before we graduated high school. Until I destroyed what we had and could have had with a kiss.

God, it’s hot. The sun is too bright. The conversations around us too loud. My mouth is bone dry. I lick my lips and clutch my belly. Taron stares at my eyes. My eyes must be bright with regret.

He steps forward and cocoons me to him with his hands on my hips. I glance up. Blink. Blink again. He’s staring forward with a look of frustration on his face, and I long to kiss him and get back what we lost, but I let him go for a reason. He is meant for more. I will never be enough. That’s just the way life works when someone is a star and the other, an insignificant mortal.

“We can’t start anything, Taron. We’re not the same people. You don’t know me anymore.”

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