Page 89 of Heart to Heart
“I thought it was pretty romantic.”
“You don’t need lines like that to be romantic. You’ve been doing a fine job of it on your own.”
We came to a Y-intersection, and Tristan led us down the path that veered off to the left, which took us to a dead end near a grove of oak trees. In between the trees, the ground sloped down to the river. At the bottom of that slope sat a bench. Our destination, I surmised, which proved to be true when Tristan guided me down the slope, never letting go of my hand.
The moon had risen, casting its reflection on the surface of the river. It was now or never. We wouldn’t get much more privacy than we had right now.
“I need to know something,” I asked, staring out at the water. Tristan turned his head to look at me. “Why?”
“Why what, Avery?” he asked softly.
“Why am I still here? Why did you agree to our alliance, knowing it wasn’t necessary?”
“How could I possibly have known it wasn’t necessary?”
“You’re not serious?” I asked, looking away from the moon to the face I used to only daydream about. “Tristan. Please.”
He let out a breath, eyes briefly falling to our hands, still firmly entwined. “Because I thought you'd leave if you knew it wasn’t necessary.”
“And you didn’t want me to leave?” I had become dizzy in all the best ways while my heart thrummed against my chest.
“It was complicated.”
“Was?”
He nodded. “Was. But it’s not anymore.”
“Why was it so complicated?”
“Because no amount of time around you was long enough. Filming for the day would end, but all I could think about was when I could see you again. That was a little counterproductive to my goal.”
I swallowed, not believing what I was hearing, sure the other shoe was about to drop. “And why isn’t it complicated anymore?”
He smiled in the moonlight, the shadows playing on his face, making him look equal parts mysterious and divine. “I wanted to tell you that night at the beach, but then Jessica showed up. By the time I got there, it was too late. You’d already gone.”
“Wait. You went to the beach?”
“Yeah, and believe me when I say this, Avery, I felt terrible that I missed you. The next morning, I went to your room to try and have the conversation I was going to have with you the night before, but you…”
“Blew you off.”
He nodded. “You shattered my heart. Yet, I felt like I deserved it.”
“No one deserves to have their heart broken, Tristan. Wait...” My eyes searched his face, and he knew that it had dawned on me what he had been telling me without actually saying the words. “In order to have shattered your heart, it would havehad to have been mine to shatter. That night at the beach, you weren’t going to tell me about Jessica, were you?”
He shook his head, confused. “No. I’d just found out she was on the island right as I was heading out to meet you. Avery, I was going to tell you that I wanted to end the competition because I couldn’t carry on with it anymore. Not after I realized what I felt for you was more than an infatuation or some fake alliance. Not when I’d fallen in love with you.”
My mouth fell open, but no words would come out. I loved him; of course, I did. I just hadn’t been prepared for it, and it scared me to have it again after Guy had broken my heart. Tristan lifted his hand up to my face, running his thumb along my quivering bottom lip.
“I don’t want you to say anything. I’m not expecting an ‘I love you’ back right now, or ever. I just had to finally tell you what I’ve been wanting to say to you for far too long.”
“Far too long? Like how long?”
He looked down, snickering quietly. “I knew I liked you that first night when you assaulted me with the best cake I’d ever double-fisted in my trailer.”
I laughed at the mental image of Tristan stuffing handfuls of smashed cake in his mouth. “That’s hot.”
“I thought you’d think that.”
