Page 131 of Make Me Yours
“And I ran into Devon.”
My hand stills on her cheek, but I don’t say a damn word. I just wait, wanting her to get it all out.
“I didn’t expect to see him there.” She blinks, her lashes trembling. “He looked good. Content. It’s not a version of him I recognized.”
My jaw clenches until it aches.
“I asked him why he hadn’t told me the truth sooner. About how he felt and wanting something different. You know what he said?” Her gaze lifts to mine. “That being with me felt like an obligation. Because our parents expected it. And he didn’t know how to get out of it.”
Fucking hell.
I close my eyes for a beat and count to three. The only thing keeping me from punching something is the fact that she needs me right now. Not some pissed-off caveman ready to throw hands.
With a ragged tone, she says, “I gave him nearly two years of my life. I kept trying to make it work. Trying to be the version of myself he needed. And all this time… he was just waiting for a way out.”
I can’t fucking stand hearing her talk like this.
Like she was disposable.
She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I didn’t even see it. How messed up is that? I thought we were solid and that he loved me. And now I don’t know if I was ignoring the truth or just holding on to the version of it I wanted to believe in.”
She wraps her arms around herself, like she’s trying to hold the pieces together.
“He said it never felt right. That with Marissa, it’s just easier.” She closes her eyes for a moment. “He made me feel like I was the problem,” she whispers. “Like loving me was just too much.”
I don’t realize I’ve risen to my feet until I’m peeling off my shirt and tossing it aside. My pants and boxers follow. I stepinto the tub without a word and then settle behind her before pulling her into my arms. In this moment, all I want to do is absorb every ounce of her pain.
Instead of resisting, she melts into me. Her back curves into my chest and her head fits under my chin like it was made for that spot. My legs cage hers as I kiss the bare skin of her shoulder, anchoring her in place.
“He’s a coward,” I tell her. “And a real asshole for saying any of that.”
She doesn’t argue as my hold tightens.
“He never really saw you, Lilah. Not the way I do. He didn’twantto. And that’s his loss.”
She lets out a broken laugh, as if she doesn’t believe me.
“Devon never understood what he had,” I murmur, my hand stroking up her side. “You’re not someone who fits into a neat little box. You’re fire. You’re softness. You’re strength wrapped in the prettiest fucking package I’ve ever seen. And he couldn’t rise to meet that.”
“Then why does it hurt so much to hear it?”
I press my lips to the side of her neck. “Because you gave him the best of you and he didn’t know what to do with it.”
She shifts, just enough to face me. Her cheek rests against me, and her fingers skim along my ribs, as if memorizing the way I feel.
“I hate that he made you doubt yourself,” I say. “But that guy? He doesn’t get to define what love looks like for you.”
“Then who does?” she asks.
“You do, baby,” I say without hesitation.
Her fingers clutch my chest, securing herself to me like I’m the only steady thing in her world.
“Promise that we’ll always be friends?” she asks, the question barely audible.
I press a kiss to her damp hair. “I promise.”
Even though the word is too small for what I feel for her.
