Page 118 of The Truth About Love

“You’re doing amazing things, Summer-Raine.”

His eyes sparkle with warmth and I turn away, unable to bare it.

“You can’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re proud of me.”

He laughs quietly and the sound brings goosebumps to my skin.

“I am proud of you, baby, so fucking proud.”

A growl rumbles in my throat, but he ignores it and keeps talking, walking slowly across the room towards me. I’m still not looking at him, but I trace his movements by listening to the sound of his footsteps. My heart beats harder the closer they get.

“I followed your blog, you know? I read every entry, still do. I’ve set it so that I’m notified as soon as you upload a new one. For two years, I’ve poured over every word you’ve written, cried with you, laughed with you, longed for you so fucking much that at times it made life unbearable.”

He’s close to me now. I can see the toes of his leather shoes, can taste his familiar scent on my tongue.

“The day you came home from rehab, all I wanted to do was come and find you. See your face. Touch your skin. But I knew that the second I did, I’d have to tell you what I’d done. That I’d married Cara, that she’d been pregnant with the child I always thought I’d have with you. And I couldn’t do it. Because I knew that once you found out, your heart wouldn’t belong to me anymore. It was selfish, I know, but the thought of you not loving me anymore was intolerable. For that, baby, foreverything,I’m so fucking sorry.”

His footsteps stop in front of me. And yet, I still can’t look at him.

I don’t want him to see the pain in my eyes, the way they’re burning with unshed tears. If all I have left is my pride, then I’m going to cling to it with all the strength I have.

“Look at me, Summer-Raine.”

“No.” But instead of the word sounding strong like I’d intended, it comes out soft and weak.

“Baby, look at me.”

He doesn’t give me a choice. With the tips of his finger and thumb, he tilts my chin up and angles my head so that I have no option but to stare right into the glorious blue of his eyes.

“I’m leaving her.”

My heart stops. “What?”

“I’m leaving Cara.”

I stumble backwards, my knees giving out. Auden swoops me into his arms and crushes me against his chest before I have a chance to fall.

The thunderous beat of his heart thuds against me and it’s just as wild and out of rhythm as my own.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“As soon as I leave here, I’m going to tell her,” he says, stroking his hand through my hair. The way he’s holding me, clinging to me so strongly yet softly at the same time, it’s as if he’s scared to let go out of fear that I’ll disappear.

“She doesn’t know?”

I feel the shake of his head above me. “I’ve been staying at Fred’s for the past week while I’ve been thinking about everything. We haven’t had the conversation yet.”

I nod, but say nothing.

This is all too much. I’m so overwhelmed by what he’s telling me that I’m not even sure this is happening at all. I’d be more inclined to believe that I’m having another delusion, the kind my medication helps prevent. That this is all just a figment of my imagination and I’m making it up in my head.

He’s really leaving Cara?

It feels too good to be true.

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