Verek (Savage Kings MC - South Carolina #3) - Lane Hart Page 0,75
she looks at you…I think she loves you.”
“She shouldn’t,” I remark, even though my chest is swelling up with hope.
“No, she shouldn’t. I can treat her better than you. I’m certain of that!” he says.
“I’m sure you could,” I agree.
“So why would she rather be with you?”
“I don’t know, man,” I answer. “Honestly, Tessa is still confused. She hasn’t made a decision yet. She may still pick you.”
“How could I ever compete with you? The man who ‘saved her’?”
“I may have been there when we found her, but it’s my fault she was taken. If I had just gone after her…”
“Then she would’ve gone home with you, and I still would be the one who lost her!” Paul explains. “As long as you’re around, I don’t stand a fucking chance. Tessa said she wanted to come back home eventually. Are you what’s standing in her way, keeping her here?”
“What? I don’t…I didn’t know that she wants to go home.”
“Of course she does! That’s where her family and friends are,” he says. “Why can’t you leave or just let her go, finally end this…this fling or whatever it is that’s going on and stop messing with her head? Be the bigger man and let me be the man she needs!”
Tessa
* * *
“Sorry it took so long,” I say when I finally make my way back to our spot on the mostly empty beach and find Paul sitting alone on one of the blankets while Verek is still out on his walk. “When I came out of the bathroom, I had to hit up the lemonade stand. Do you want some?”
“No, thanks,” he says with a sigh. When I’m finally standing in front of him, I realize he’s holding the ice cubes from the cooler on his knuckles.
“Oh my god! What happened?” I ask in concern before a sudden thought dawns on me. “Oh no. Did you hit Verek?” No, that’s a stupid question. Paul wouldn’t hit anyone. He’s the least violent man I know.
“I may have sucker punched him once,” Paul explains with a wince. “I think his face hurt my hand more than my hand hurt his face.”
He seriously punched Verek?
“That’s…you shouldn’t have done that!” I shout at him.
“Hell, I know that,” he mutters as he stands up. “I just hate realizing that I’ve lost you for good. I thought maybe there was still a chance for us, but there’s not, is there?”
Taking a deep breath, I finally tell him the truth. “No. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about that night when I changed my mind, and then for not being able to face you afterward for so long. I was selfish.”
“You did what you needed to do after a horrible tragedy. That’s not selfish,” he says. “You’re in love with Verek. I get it. But he has doubts. He said he would leave because he doesn’t think he can love you like you deserve. What if he can’t?”
“What? But he can. He does love me,” I whisper softly. “I slept with him last night. I’m not telling you that to hurt you. It’s just that, I think I was supposed to be with him all along because it felt so…right. I turned him down that first night we met, and I’ve regretted it for so long. The only reason I didn’t sleep with him while we were still engaged was because I didn’t want to hurt you. I guess…that was bound to happen anyway. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s…well, it’s not what I wanted to hear, but I’m glad to finally have some closure. I was hoping to leave here this week with you and if not, to finally let you go. I haven’t exactly been totally honest with you these past few days either…”
“You haven’t?” I say in surprise.
“While we were apart, I saw other women.”
He doesn’t have to elaborate. He slept with other people.
“Huh,” I mutter, not exactly shocked, just surprised that Verek, the biggest playboy in the South, was celibate during our hiatus, but my former fiancé was not.
“Also, I should probably confess that the reason I called or texted you every day was because Charlotte told me you needed to hear from me. I’m pretty sure she was wrong since you hardly ever answered.”
“You’re right. She was wrong,” I say, knowing now more than ever that I’ve made the right decision. Going up on my toes, I kiss his cheek and quickly step away. “Goodbye, Paul.”