Page 95 of The Nice Guy
Sighing, he closes his trembling hands into fists and won’t meet my eyes. I decide I’m done. “I love you, Brynlee.”
“What?” I stand there, frozen and bent over with one foot in the air like a confused flamingo.
“I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you, and I was too stubborn to tell you. In my stupid reality, you couldn’t feel the same way. I never dreamed you could love me back, and I always thought you’d leave me.”
Setting my foot down, I drop the boots rather than set them down like Mama always instructed. There was no kicking off shoes in her house. “I did. I said I love you, and you told me you didn’t think I knew what love was. You didn’t believe me.”
“I believe you,” he whispers. “I believe you loved me.”
Past tense.Yeah, like this feeling’s going anywhere soon.“Why did it have to get to this point?” I ask, finally frustrated and angry. “Why did you have to humiliate me and hit me where you knew it would hurt the most rather than just talk to me? This became unbearably difficult and painful when we could have been happy this last month, basking in the glow of finally admitting our feelings aloud. Now we’re… I don’t even know how to define what we are.”
“I want you back,” Rhett says, his eyes locking with mine. “Whatever it takes, I’ll do it. Just tell me what you need from me, and I’ll make it happen.”
“Rhett—”
“I’ll move to Chicago. I’ll move to New York City. You want a dog? Cat? Brand new house built in Australia? I have no idea how to go about doin’ all of that, and I’m sure I’ll need to get a passport, but I’ll make it work. For you, I will do anythin’.”
I can’t stop the words as they come out. “And if I was with Kevin in Chicago, would that change things for you?”
His jaw clenches, but he shakes his head no. “I can’t fault you for anythin’ you did after I pushed you away. The thought of you two together makes me want to shove my fist through a wall, but I still love you. I’ll always love you.”
“I never saw Kevin,” I say. “I just wanted to see your reaction. It wasn’t a nice thing to do, and I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.”
“I deserve it.”
“No, you don’t. No one deserves to have their insecurities thrown in their face. Trust me, it hurts, especially when it comes from someone you care about.”
Closing his eyes, he takes a slow breath before releasing it. “That’s what I did to you.”
“You know me better than anyone ever has, and you used my weakness against me. Publicly. If we were alone, I would have argued with you, assuming it was said out of anger, but I’ve never been the type to get into screaming matches with someone in public. I don’t want to be that girl.”
He opens his eyes and locks his gaze on me again. Those gorgeous eyes I’ve dreamed about every night since I left. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. But for the record, I never meant you weren’t enough. I thought you didn’t want to have him arrested because you loved Kevin. It hurt me, and that’s what I meant when I said it wasn’t enough. I should’ve gone after you right away and apologized.”
“The entire time I packed my bags, I prayed you’d show up and stop me. You never did,” I say, and I hate the tears in my eyes.
Tears fill his brown ones, and my heart breaks looking at him. “I wish I would have. Every night since you left, I’ve thought about all the things I would’ve done differently. Should have done. I drove three hours on the interstate searchin’ for your car, but I was too late.”
His pain hurts, and my lip quivers. “You came after me?”
“Randy said I was about half an hour behind you. I missed you by half an hour.”
“I didn’t think you’d do that,” I whisper.
Reaching out a shaking hand, he drops it before he touches me. “I’m sorry, Brynlee. That… You should always know I’ll come for you. If I had any idea where to find you in Chicago, I would’ve gone out there. I almost did so many times, and I wish I had.”
The tears fall, and I put my head in my hands. He ran after me. He wanted to stop me.
“Why are you cryin’?” he asks with panic in his voice. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. It’s the last thing I ever want to do. I’m doing this all wrong.”
I shake my head but can’t look up at him. “I didn’t think you wanted me anymore. That you didn’t come for me because I was the only one who fell in love.”
His arms wrap around me, and I hug him back. “You weren’t the only one. And I always wanted you. That’s somethin’ you should never have to question, and if you can find it in your heart to give me a second chance, I promise you’ll never question it again. I love you. I love you more than anythin’. And I mean it when I say I’ll do anythin’ to make it up to you.”
I just stand there, letting him hold me. It feels good. So good, and I wish it didn’t. I wish I could be the girl who walks away and tells him he screwed up losing me. Instead, I long to be his again.
“I don’t know what I need,” I finally say.
“Will you give me a second chance? Let me show you how good I can be to you.”
