In the Air (The City Book 1) - By Crystal Serowka Page 0,70

what happened?" His voice calmed, but his face remained unhappy.

"Aubrey came to my dorm. She wanted to talk to me about you." I wrung my hands, cracking my knuckles from agitation. "Samson, I didn't want to talk to her, but she insisted."

"I can't believe this!" His body moved closer to mine. "How could you lie to me?"

Tears filled my eyes. I never meant to lie to him. I never meant to hurt him, but I had no other choice. If I wanted to protect my own heart, that was my only option.

"I had to," I simply said.

"You had to? You had to lie to me?" Hurt brimmed his face. "After how pissed off you got at me for lying to you?"

Samson was right. I was a hypocrite. "It never would have worked out between us anyway. You would have started missing Aubrey eventually." I whispered.

What I said wasn't what he wanted to hear in that moment. Samson kneeled down onto the floor. His hands cradling his head, and his intense breathing filling the silence of the room.

I stood in my spot, glued to the carpet. "Samson?" I whispered. He showed no sign of acknowledging me. "Samson, can you please talk to me?"

Suddenly, Samson stood from the ground. His stone face stared into mine, until I finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

"Are you? You're sorry for giving up on us so easily?"

His words were true. I didn't even put up a fight.

"Yes." Tears began forming again. I didn't want to cry because I knew the tears wouldn't prove anything to Samson. The damage was done and showing remorse wasn't going to take us back in time.

"Did you really think that I'd just wake up one morning and not feel anything for you?" His hand wiped a fallen tear from my cheek.

"Yes." The tears came anyway. "You'd realize you'd made a mistake by choosing me."

"You can't predict those things." Samson lowered his body to meet my eyes. "What I feel for you is real, and that won't change overnight."

"I'm so afraid of getting my heart broken again," I confessed.

"There's always that possibility when you love someone!" His voice rose, determined to make me understand. "You can't go into a relationship knowing the outcome. You're either going to love someone for the rest of your life or fall out of love. I fell out of love with Aubrey. It happens! I can't promise you anything, but what I can tell you is that I love you, Natalia. Right now, in this very moment, you're the only girl I love. I would never intentionally hurt you. I'm here."

I began sobbing, while Samson cradled me against his solid chest. I felt my eyes burn, and I knew they were bloodshot from the tears. I looked into Samson's blue eyes, my heart beating ferociously in my chest.

"I love you, too."

As soon as Samson heard my words, his lips crashed onto mine. His hands roamed my body freely, desperately wanting to touch every inch of my skin. "This is all that matters now. You and me," he whispered

I smiled from his words. I knew he meant them.

My fears lessened each time I heard the words "I love you." My father once told me that I would know when I found true love from the abnormal beating of my heart that would happen when that special person was near. My father was right about most things, but when it came to love, his advice was dead on. Once I found Samson, my heart never beat the same.

Three months had passed since the fateful night between Natalia and me. Ever since we said we loved each other, I'd told Natalia those words every day.

My phone vibrated with a text from Natalia. "Get back here immediately." At first it worried me. She was just telling me last week that her mother had been upset with her for dating someone and not focusing on Juilliard. Of course, that wasn't true. Yes, we were now in a relationship, but together we worked hard. Madame Dampier announced that we were the best partners in her classroom, making us lead in the piece we'd be doing at the end of the semester.

"Is something wrong with your mom?" I texted her back.

"No, silly. Though something will be wrong if you don't get back here soon."

I was just coming back from Wren's. Natalia had plans to be with Kingsley for most of the day.

I hadn't talked to Aubrey since I rushed out of her hotel room. She'd