Page 86 of Second Chance with the Enemy CEO
My chest tightens. I take a long drink of water, then say quietly, “I never actually stopped loving her.”
Logan tilts his head. “You sure?”
I nod. “I could not bring myself to stop, no matter how much I tried. I wished for her every single day. Even when I thought she had betrayed me, I missed her. Loving her hurt like hell, butI could not let go. I tried to make myself hate her. And now, knowing the truth…,” I trail off, my voice thick with emotion.
“She was everything, man. Still is,” I continue, “and I let her slip through my fingers because I was too weak, too blind, and doubting.”
Matt whistles low. “So, what is the plan? Because, from the look of things, I do not think she wants to get back together with you. It seems like she has moved on.”
“She hasn’t,” I say firmly. “She is hurt, yes. Angry as hell. But she hasn’t moved on. Not completely.”
“Look at you, are you sure?” Matt says, crossing his arms. “So, what are you going to do, Romeo?”
“I’m going to get her back,” I say, my jaw set. “How, I don’t know…, yet. But I will. Hazel’s taken me out of her heart, but I will put myself back in. Whatever it takes, I will do it.”
Ethan smirks. “Even if it means groveling?”
“Especially if it means groveling,” I say. “I do not care how hard it is. Hazel’s worth every second.”
Logan claps me on the shoulder. “Well, if you need any help, you know we have got your back. Just say the word.”
I smile for the first time all night, a small but genuine one. “Thanks, guys. I might just take you up on that.”
For the first time in years, I feel like I am heading in the right direction.
Chapter twenty-six
Hazel
Isit cross-legged on the couch, clutching a mug of tea, my phone buzzing incessantly on the table in front of me with Grace beside me. Maya and Luke insisted on a group call the moment I texted them about Liam showing up last night. It has been over an hour, and neither of them has let me hear the end of it.
“So, let me get this straight,” Maya says, her voice sharp with disbelief, “he apologized, told you he was wrong, and then what? He just left?”
“For the umpteenth time, yes, Maya,” I mutter, staring into my mug. The tea’s long gone cold, but I don’t bother drinking it.
“And you just let him go?”
“What else was I supposed to do, Maya? Pray, tell?”
Grace shifts beside me, nudging me with her elbow as Maya scoffs loudly and lets out an exasperated sigh through the phone. “I don’t know, Hazel. Maybe let him grovel a little more? Make him sweat? The guy tore you apart, and you are telling me he waltzed in, dropped a sob story, and you just…, stood there?
“Maya,” Luke’s deep voice cuts in, calm but firm, “you’re not helping.”
“I was caught off guard,” I snap, feeling the heat rise in my chest. “I didn’t exactly have a list of hard-hitting questions ready to fire at him.”
“She’s not wrong though,” Grace chimes in, her tone gentler but no less pointed. “Hazel, I mean…, are you okay? How did you feel when he said all that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, rubbing my temples. “Confused? Angry? Relieved? It is like…, he opened this floodgate of emotions I did not even know I still had.”
Maya snorts. “You still had them, all right. You just stuffed them into some emotional junk drawer and pretended they did not exist.”
“Thanks for the psychoanalysis, Dr. Maya,” I deadpan.
“Anytime,” she quips back, but her voice softens. “Look, Haz, all I am saying is, do not let him off easy. He does not realize after all this time – which by the way deserves a ‘hallelujah’ - to say a few pretty and apologetic words and expect everything to be fine.”
“I know that,” I say, my voice sharper than I intended, “do you think I am just going to forgive him overnight? Trust me, I am not there yet.”
“But you’re thinking about it,” Luke says, his tone neutral but perceptive.
