Page 84 of The Truth of Our Secrets

“Baby Girl, we can’t expect him to move in with us and be available twenty-four seven. It’s only been a couple of weeks. We should try not to scare him off.” He means I shouldn’t scare Emmet. He dumps the shards in the garbage and wraps me in a hug.

I’m always safest in his arms.

“Maybe he thinks we’ll get sick of him and he’s sitting in that awful room alone.” I’m reaching for any excuse to call him. It’s the second night this week he’s had another commitment.

“We offered him drawers and space in the closet. We couldn’t be any clearer than that.” He rubs his cheek on the top of my head.

It was actually Jayce’s idea to make space for him, but I probably went overboard. Jayce thought it would be helpful, so Emmet wouldn’t have to keep borrowing clothes. Jayce loves seeing Emmet in his clothes, but Emmet always washes and returns them.

He doesn’t have extra money to spend on a laundromat when we can do it. Our apartment has a washer and dryer.

“I don’t like it.” I snuggle deeper into his chest.

“Me neither. But he has to choose us.”

“Do you think we should tell him everything?” I cringe, hating that we could give him a reason to walk away.

“I’m going to fix it. I’ve got an appointment with the lawyer tomorrow and hopefully…” He trails off.

It’s about time Jayce faces his past and I’m thrilled, but nothing is ever easy.

“Is this for him?” It hurts that it’s taken him so long.

He lifts my chin with his finger. “It’s for me. And for us. I kept hoping it’d resolve without a fight. It’ll be tough, but it’s time. We can spare Emmet the painful truth.”

In his heart, he believes it’s true, but he can’t underestimate how difficult it’ll be.

“Were you attracted to Emmet when he was your student?” He returns to the couch, lounging with one arm resting on the back.

He seems casual, but my insides curdle. I hear Peter’s voice in my head, berating me for having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Which was absolutely untrue.

“Are you asking because of what Peter accused me of?” My voice is too high and I’ve given myself away. I should’ve just said no.

Jayce rises slowly, and I know he’s processing and analyzing and trying to figure out why I’m upset.

“No.” He takes fluid steps toward me and I fight the urge to flee. He doesn’t say anymore, giving me space to incriminate myself.

“He told me you were jealous of Emmet and how much I talked about him. That you were worried I’d had sex with him.” I spew it all out to deflect from the questions.

He stops a couple of feet from me and takes a deep breath. “I was jealous.” He holds his hands up when I protest. “I never, ever thought you slept with him, but I was concerned that you were overly invested.” Jayce’s words are exactly what I want to hear, but he’s not telling me everything. He’s protecting me from his true feelings, and I hate it.

Truth breeds more truth so I confess. “I never crossed a line with him.” Gauging his expression, I continue, “But I found him attractive. He was so brave dealing with everything and he needed someone who cared. I wanted to hug him. I probably needed that hug too, but I denied us both for the sake of my job.” In the end, it didn’t matter. The school didn’t ask me back. “There was only you once we met.”

Jayce closes the distance between us and hauls me into his arms. “It’s okay, I’m curious.” He rocks me back and forth with my pottery crushed in the middle. “Emmet asked me the other daywhy you asked me about his smell. I gave him the short version, and we talked about how good you smelled to me.”

I nod into his chest and wait because there’s more, and he’s nervous to say it out loud.

“He was standing next to you when we met. I’ve told you I’ve never been so attracted to someone’s smell before. It was addicting. I wonder if your mutual attraction made that initial scent so incredibly powerful to me.”

“Really?” I ask stupidly. As much as I ignored it, I knew Emmet was attracted to me.

“I’m not mad or anything.” He puts space between us so he can kiss me.

“I thought you’d be upset,” I say against his lips.

“Maybe back then I would’ve been jealous but…” He stops himself and laughs. “There’s no maybe. My eyes would’ve been greener than yours with jealousy and I would’ve been a dick about it.”

“Do you think he’s over us?” I push the words out, afraid to put the thought in the universe.

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