Page 53 of As Long As You Kiss Me

“You can’t just hold it inside forever. Did Jackson say something to upset you?”

Sully sipped her coffee and didn’t answer.

“I want to be a supportive friend, but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on. I hate to see you hurting like this.”

“I think I’m going to break up with Jackson.” She surprised herself by saying the words.

“What?” Aubrey sat across the table from her. “Why would you do that?”

“I can’t talk about it. But I don’t know if I can be around him anymore.” That was the first time anything had made sense since she’d left his truck last night.

“Because it’s over.” She wrapped her hands around the warm mug, allowing it to relax her.

“But you two were so cute together,” Aubrey whined.

“Not anymore.” There was nothing cute about what she knew now. It was dark and horrible. She hurt so much inside she could hardly bear it. But she couldn’t speak of it. Not to anyone.

She’d been a fool to trust Jackson. He’d been a liar all along. Pretending he was her friend when he was hiding something so huge from her.

A knock sounded on the door, and Aubrey went to get it. “Oh, hi, Jackson.”

Sully froze in her seat. Jackson was here?

“Is Sully home?”

“Yeah, she’s just inside. But I’m not sure she’ll want to talk to you,” Aubrey admitted to him.

“Can I at least come in and find that out for myself?”

“Suit yourself. It’s your funeral. She’s not exactly in the best mood, and I have a feeling it has to do with you.”

“I know.” Jackson’s deep voice drifted from the open door. “That’s why I’m here.”

He came into the kitchen, and Sully’s heart felt heavy in her chest. She’d fallen for him, and now it was over. Why did he have to look so good? That just made everything worse. It shouldn’t be allowed.

His hair was tousled in that perfect, touchable way. How dare he? And he had on a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his tanned arms. She knew how warm and strong they were too.

She needed him to take her in his arms and comfort her, but she couldn’t allow that. Because he was the problem here. He’d betrayed her trust. He should have told her family right away that he’d known the details of Tyson’s death.

Was that why he’d stayed away for all those years? Out of guilt? He could have stuck around and checked in on her family. Shown some support. But no. He’d taken off with his secret and had avoided them for years.

She got it that he had to go to school, but he could have at least had the decency to check in with them once in a while. Instead of never.

It had only mildly bothered her before that he’d stayed away, but now that she knew why, it infuriated her. He could have been man enough to be open with them about the nature of their son’s death. Didn’t they deserve to know? It wasn’t like the military was going to tell them much about how he’d died.

He pulled out a chair next to her and put a hand over hers. His voice was tender when he spoke, and it pulled at her heartstrings. “Sully?”

She refused to meet his eyes. She couldn’t look at him.

He tilted her chin up, and she finally allowed herself to land her gaze on his face. And it was a beautiful face, too. She couldn’t help the longing that came over her as she took him in. His eyes were gentle with a tinge of guilt in them.

“Jackson, we can’t be together anymore. This just isn’t working out for me.”

“What about Mason?”

“I’ll go back to self-defense classes.”

“I think I need to explain myself better,” he said.

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