Page 315 of His Virgin Romance Series

Gabby didn’t say anything, she just listened to me talk, and I realized that now that I had started, I could go on and it didn’t feel weird to talk about in any way.

“My father is the kind of man who plans everything out. Everything has to be perfect the entire time, not just career-wise. Even his life has to be in order. His house has to look perfect; his wife has to be perfect… his son… of all things, his son. I was always a disappointment to him.

“I was never into sports even though I was good at them growing up. I was never interested in the types of shows that other kids were into either. I liked all these old artsy movies that Dad never understood. My friends were all weird and quirky, and Dad hated all of them. He tried to mold me into the kind of kid he would be proud to show off to his circle of friends and colleagues, but even when he introduced me to people, I never followed the script.

“Dad needed everything to be perfect. And I… perfect sounded awful to me. Perfect was boring and dull and completely uninteresting.”

“Sounds like a difficult house to grow up in,” Gabby said softly.

“You have no idea…”

“What about your mother?” she asked. “Did she act as a buffer between your dad and you?”

“You would think,” I sighed. “But she was only ever interested in getting his approval. She wanted to make him proud and happy, and the only way to do that was to take his side and always agree with him. So she did… even when it came to me. I think over the years her own beliefs and opinions slowly got stripped away and now she’s just the female version of my father. Everything that was interesting about my mother, he took too.”

“Miles…”

She didn’t say anything more. She just said my name and then put her hand on top of mine. I raised my gaze to hers, and our eyes met for a brief second that felt like an eternity. I wanted to do so many things at that moment. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to paint her. I wanted to make love to her. I wanted to tell her the truth about me. I wanted to tell her that she was the only woman who had ever made me feel so… whole.

“What do you need?” she asked, taking me by surprise.

“What?”

“You seem stressed,” Gabby said. “And you told me that whenever you’re stressed, you have a party and you feel better…”

“Well, yes… but—”

“Have a party,” Gabby said immediately. “And release all that stress you have inside you.”

“But—”

“We are compromising,” Gabby said before I could speak. “You haven’t had a party this whole week. I think it’s only fair that you have one tonight.”

“But you need to study,” I pointed out.

“I can study at the library,” Gabby said. “I just want you to have a good time tonight.”

It was so unbelievably kind of her that for a moment I really did almost lean in and kiss her. She gave me a smile and then went back to her room to collect her things. When she came back out, she had her book bag and her coat with her.

“I don’t have to have a party tonight,” I told her.

She came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “I want you to,” she said. “You’ve been very understanding about what I need so I need to be understanding about what you need.”

“You are… amazing,” I breathed fervently.

She smiled. “Have fun.”

Why was this woman so good to me? How on earth was I supposed to resist her when she made me feel so… complete? But I was starting to think that even if I could have her, maybe I should stay away from her anyway. The truth was she was amazing… and I was nothing but a loser… a disappointing son, a failed artist, and a drug dealer who had broken every promise he had made.

And Gabby deserved better than that.

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