Page 135 of Press Play

She could have anyone—someone smarter, someone stronger, someone who hasn’t spent years letting his past weigh him down. But instead, she’s here. With me. And it scares the shit out of me because I know how easily I could lose her.

How easily I almost lost her.

Amanda tried to take her from me, and I almost let her. If not for Wren.

Shit, if Wren ever realizes I’m not enough for her—if she ever wakes up and sees what I see when I look at myself—I don’t know if I’ll survive it.

I glance back at the screen, at Wren’s face. She’s smiling in this frame, her eyes locked on mine, her hands cupping my jaw like I’m the most important thing in the world.

And maybe that’s what breaks me.

Because for all my doubts, for all the ways I think I’ll never measure up, she doesn’t seem to care. In this video, in that moment, she’swith me.Not just physically, but completely.

I exhale, forcing myself to keep watching.

If Wren trusts me enough to let me see her like this—to let meloveher like this—then maybe it’s time I stop doubting what we have. Maybe it’s time I own up and face the truth.

I love her, and she loves me.

I open my bedroom door, and she’s right there, curled up on the couch, completely oblivious to the storm raging inside my head.

She’s wearing one of her oversized sweaters, her legs tucked under her as she reads a book.

My nerves are shot. All I can do is stand here, using the doorframe to support myself. She’s here, and she’s mine.

You almost lost her.

“Theo?” Wren’s voice cuts through the taunting voice of my inner critic. “Are you okay?”

The need to be close to her is overwhelming. So I push off the doorframe and close the distance between us in a few slow steps. “The video is ready.”

“With three hours to spare. Great job.” She smiles at me, but all it does is twist a knife in my gut.

“You can still back out,” I offer. “I won’t blame you.”

“Why in the world would I do that?” Wren leans forward, and I shove my hands in my pockets.

“Because you don’t deserve this.” My eyes fall to my feet, avoiding her soft gaze.

You don’t deserve her.

“This last month with you has been a dream. I’ve never been so happy. It would be selfish of me to cling onto you?—”

“Theo—” Wren cuts in, but I don’t stop.

“I love the ever-living shit out of you, but I can’t drag you down with me?—”

“Theo!” She shouts, and it’s enough to cleave my sentence and earn my attention.

“Come here.” Her voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. She beckons me over, and I’m far too quick to obey.

“Listen to me because I’m only going to say this once.”

I nod, my throat tightening.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she says, her tone steady. “Am I happy about the situation? No. Will I do anything for you because I love you? Yes.”

I drop my gaze to my lap, but before I can retreat too far into my thoughts, she tilts my chin up with her thumb, forcing me to meet her eyes.

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