Page 16 of One Night Rebellion
"Since high school, if I'm being honest. Maybe longer." I settle back into the chair across from him, my jaw still throbbing. "But I never acted on it. Never even let myself think about it seriously until recently."
"What changed?"
I think about last night, about the way Addie looked at me in the moonlight, the way she felt in my arms. "She did. I did. Hell, I don't know. Maybe I just got tired of pretending I didn't want her. My knee fucking up, and taking me away from here, and then everything bringing me back. Maybe it was for a reason."
Malcolm leans back in his chair, studying me with those sharp eyes that remind me so much of Addie's. "You know what I'm going to do to you if you hurt her, right?"
"I'd expect nothing less."
"No, I'm serious, JT." His voice drops, takes on that edge I remember from when we were kids and someone picked on his little sister. "I'll destroy you. Not just beat your ass, though that's a given. I'll ruin your job, make sure no one in the area will work with you. I'll make your life hell in ways you can't even imagine."
The threat should scare me, but instead it makes me respect him more. This is Malcolm protecting his family, the way he always has. "I know."
"And if you think you can just have some fun with her and then move on to the next girl?—"
"I'm not going to hurt her, Malcolm." I lean forward, meeting his stare head-on. "I know you think I'm just some player who can't settle down, but that's not what this is. This isn't some game to me."
"Then what is it?"
The question hangs in the air, demanding an honest answer. I take a deep breath, knowing that what I say next will change everything between us, maybe forever.
"It's everything," I say quietly. "She's everything. I know that probably sounds like bullshit coming from me, given my track record, but it's the truth. I've been running from this for years because I knew once I admitted it, once I let myself feel it, there'd be no going back."
Malcolm's expression softens slightly, but his jaw is still tight. "She's not like the other girls you've been with."
"I know that."
"She's been hurt before. That asshole from Georgia I told you about that…"
"I know about Derek." The name tastes bitter in my mouth. "And I know what you told me he did to her back then. What he made her believe about herself."
"Then you know she doesn't need another man in her life who's going to make her feel like she's not enough."
The words hit harder than his fist did. "Is that what you think I'd do?"
"I think you've never had to work for anything when it comes to women. They just fall into your lap, and when you get bored, you move on. Addie's not going to be like that. She's going to make you work for it, and when things get hard, when the novelty wears off, I need to know you're not going to bail."
I stand up, feeling the need to pace, to move. The small office suddenly feels suffocating. "You think I don't know that? You think I haven't been asking myself the same questions?"
"And what answers did you come up with?"
I stop pacing and turn to face him. "That I'm tired of being the guy everyone expects me to be. That maybe it's time I became the man she deserves."
Something shifts in Malcolm's expression, the hard edge softening just a fraction. "And you think you can be that man?"
"I don't know," I admit. "But I want to try. For her, I want to try."
The silence stretches again, but this time it feels different. Less hostile, more considering. Malcolm studies me like he's trying to read me, looking for any sign of deception or half-truth.
"She loves you, you know," he says finally.
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. "What?"
"She's loved you for years. I've watched her turn down good men because none of them were you. I've watched her light up every time someone talks about you, then try to hide it. I've watched her heart break a little more each time you posted on social media with another woman on your arm."
Guilt crashes over me in waves. "I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. You were too busy running from your own feelings to notice hers." He stands up, coming around the desk again, but this time there's no violence in his posture. "But here's the thing, JT. If you break her heart, if you make her feel like she was just another conquest, I won't just destroy your reputation in this town. I'll destroy you as a person. I'll make sure you never forget what you threw away. She and I were the only thing that kept each other alive when we were younger, and she means everything to me."
