Page 74 of Fumbled Beginning

“Promise me you’ll never love anyone but me.”

I stared into her bright blue eyes. “I promise.”

I sighed. So many dreams were ripped away from us, all because I was young and stupid.

I rubbed at my stinging nose. “I was just thinking about our last time together. I should have insisted you stay on my lap. I should have just said no when Shane asked me to drive. There are so many things I should have done differently.” I looked down at her, waiting for a response I knew would never come.

I rubbed the inside of her wrist, and her eyes blinked open. I swallowed down the guilt that threatened to suffocate me. “This is harder than I thought, Caroline. I hope you don’t hate me, and I pray to God that you understand. I know I promised you that you would always be the one, but things have changed.”

I blew out a breath and wondered if I should have just stopped talking. My chest felt like it was breaking in half. “I would have done anything for you, and I would give anything to hear your laugh or see your gentle smile one more time. I know the doctors say that you’ll never get any better than you are today, but I’m still praying for a miracle that somehow, you’ll recover. If anyone deserves a second chance at life, it’s you. But as I stare at you, I can see how your mind and your body have both settled into this place where no one can reach you.”

I ran a thumb over the back of her hand, feeling a lone tear slide down my cheek. “I wish you could communicate with me, give me a sign, something that would ease my conscience.”

I glanced over at the small wallet-size picture of us on her nightstand. It was taken at homecoming. I was suited up for the game, and she wore her cheerleading outfit. We were both so young and never got to go through anything hard in life. Our relationship was never tested. There was no guarantee we would have even made it. Just thinking about that made me feel guilty as hell, but it was the truth.

“This isn’t easy for me, but I’ve found love again when I thought I never would. She is the exact opposite of you. She doesn’t have your sweet personality, and you two look nothing alike. She’s sassy, and drives me crazy.” I emitted a small laugh. “She’s good for me though. She’s filled in the parts that you left behind. She makes me happy, and I’d like to think you’d want that for me. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I’m going to be honest with you. I’m scared. I’m scared I’m going to let her down; I’m scared of getting hurt again. You left a big hole in my heart, and I never ever want to go through that again. But I need to figure out how to make things work with her. And it feels like I’m letting you down, but she’s reminded me that I still have enough pieces of my heart left to share with her. So, Caroline, in order to do that, I have to let you go. You will always be my first love and I will always cherish our time together.”

I pushed to my feet and leaned over her bed. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, feeling the finality of the situation wash over me. “Goodbye, Caroline.”

I wiped my cheeks and walked out of her room. There was a sense of calm as I pushed through the lobby doors for the last time. I was walking to my car when I spotted the rainbow in the sky. Inhaling a deep breath, I started in the direction of my rented SUV.

It was time to go home to Rylee, where I belonged.

CHAPTER23

RYLEE

“So,let’s talk about that picture that’s floating around on Instagram,” Stephanie said over the salted rim of her strawberry margarita.

I flopped back in my chair and stared at my two coworkers. I should have seen this coming. “I’m not one to kiss and tell.”

But I was pretty sure that the deep crimson red on my cheeks told them all they needed to know.

“Really?” she mocked. “Did you seriously think you could snag the hottest player in the NFL and us not grill you for information?”

I glanced at Lucy for help, who was the more serious of the two. “If it’s any consolation, he looked really into you,” she said, pushing the basket of chips my way.

“Please.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “He looked like he wanted to devour her on the spot.”

“She has hearts in her eyes.” Lucy smiled with glee. “I love this for you.”

“Jesus.” I choked on my frozen drink and looked around the half-full hotel bar to ensure no one was paying attention. We were seated in a booth by the window at the Garden Terrace. It was one of the three restaurants at our resort. I didn’t need everyone I worked with listening to this conversation. “Do you think we could put this discussion off until we are somewhere more private?” I gave them a chiding look and took a bite of my salty pretzel.

She lifted her glass and took a huge swig. “No one is paying attention, unless you’re worried about Dom catching wind of this.”

“Not even a little. Dom doesn’t have a say in anything that goes on in my personal life.”

Lucy arched a dark eyebrow. “You’re right, he doesn’t, but he’s been snooping around and asking about that sexy hot guy you’ve been dating.”

“He really needs to get a life. We’ve been broken up for almost a year. I don’t know why he’s been acting so weird lately.”

She clutched her glass tightly. “He’s always been weird, you just chose to ignore it.”

Stephanie snorted. “I heard the weird ones are freaks in bed.”

I cringed. “I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that Dom was nothing special.”

They both broke out in a fit of giggles while I rubbed my temples.

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