Page 151 of Sweet Hate
Smell her everywhere.
She’s taken my safe place, and made it ours without even meaning to.
Without even wanting to.
Because this isn’t an admission that she loves me back.
Or that she’ll stay.
Sure it’s progress, but is it enough?
Once I see her in my bed for the first time—something I’ve imagined every fucking night since I pulled her out of that fire, and many nights before that if I’m entirely honest—I’m toast.
The memory of her there will be burned into my very soul.
The same one that turned black when she left.
Can I do it?
Can I take this one last risk and break the only rule I’ve ever held myself to.
The one that’s protected me so far.
It might have protected you this far, but have you been living?
Burying my nose in her hair, I drag in a ragged breath, letting her scent wash over me.
The tension filling me cracks, fragments slipping from me like little pieces of an iceberg falling away.
She curls further into me, burying her face in my neck—trusting me to keep her safe again.
Finally.
Shifting her in my arms, I walk us out of her dream come to life, and head straight into mine.
My every step is slow and purposeful.
Because as much as I want to race back up these stairs and toss her on my bed, claiming her in the one place that’s only ever been mine, giving her the last piece of me left changes everything.
Tightening my arms around her, I take a step, and another, my open apartment door beckoning us.
Come on Verona, this is all you’ve ever wanted. You’re holding it—her—in your arms right now.
That’s true.
She might not have said the words I want so desperately to hear tumble from her perfect lips, but agreeing to stay tonight means something.
Haven isn’t the type to play with people’s feelings. She would never deliberately hurt someone.
Anyone.
Let alone me.
My decision to keep women away from my apartment, my bed—maybe on some subconscious level I did that for her.
Because it’s always been meant to be hers—only hers.
I know it bothers her seeing my past everywhere we go. Physical reminders telling her I moved on. Even thoughI knowI never did.
