Last Chance - L. P. Dover Page 0,42

hand and brought it to my lips. “I’m not mad, Lara. It’s just a sore subject. Don’t get me wrong, they gave me all the money I needed. But by the time I was sixteen, I was living in my own house. Evan’s parents were the ones who kept watch over me. I guess you can say I never really experienced love, until them. But even then, they weren’t my real parents.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

I shook my head. “Don’t be. I’m happy with my friends . . . with you.”

“Tell me about our one night stand. Was that all it was between us?”

Fucking Grayson. I was hoping to tell her everything before that bastard could. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. Clenching my jaw, I bit down so hard I could feel my muscles shake. “No, it wasn’t. We were only together that one night, but it had been building for years. It was that night I knew I was in love with you. And it scared the fuck out of me.”

“Does it now?” she asked.

Turning on my side, I reached over and tucked a strand of her golden locks behind her ear. “Loving you doesn’t scare me, but losing you does. I’d just gotten you back the night of the accident, then you were torn away again. I believe it’s my punishment for everything I did to you.”

“What did you do?”

By the look on her face, she already knew. No doubt Grayson told her. “After our night together, I freaked out. I couldn’t be what you wanted, so I went back to my normal life. I didn’t call you after our night together, and a couple of days later, you saw me with another girl. I was flirting with her, trying to convince myself I wasn’t in love with you. Nothing worked. Unfortunately, you saw me with her and ran away. Being the most stubborn and grudge-holding person I know, you never forgave me.”

She laughed but there was nothing humorous about it. “I don’t like being made a fool of.”

“Yes, I know. And you evaded me time and again. I never got the chance to be alone with you to explain. Even Evan wouldn’t allow me to be anywhere near you.”

“Evan’s turned out to be pretty amazing. My sister got lucky with him,” she said with a smile.

I nodded. “He’s my best friend; although, we did fight a lot when it came to you. What made me furious was that you acted like nothing ever happened between us. The times I came into the restaurant, you walked around with a smile on your face, like you were the happiest woman in the world. I didn’t want to believe it didn’t mean anything to you. I wanted you so fucking bad, and it killed me when you didn’t feel the same way.”

She looked at me and sighed. “Let me guess . . . this is where you tried to make me jealous?”

“Yes,” I admitted sheepishly. “All I wanted was to get a reaction out of you. I tried multiple times with different women, but it wasn’t until Summer kicked me out of the tavern that I realized you actually cared. After that, I changed tack, and was determined to get you back. The only problem was, you’d already moved on.”

“With Grayson,” she whispered.

“It didn’t stop me from loving you though. I backed off for a while, knowing it was all my fault in the first place. I really just wanted you to be happy. But when I saw how unhappy you were with Grayson, I couldn’t just sit back and wait anymore. And that’s when he proposed. Evan finally saw what I’d been seeing, and talked to you about making the right choice for you. It was that night you broke things off with Grayson and called me, saying you wanted to give me another chance. Only, you never made it to my house.” Tears sprung to my eyes, thinking about her screams once again.

She placed her hand against my cheek, and I leaned into her touch. I’d waited an eternity to feel her skin against mine and now I had it. But she wasn’t fully mine yet.

Her lips opened and she closed her eyes. “I don’t know why, but being here with you just feels right.”

“It’s because it is,” I murmured.

She opened her eyes and a sad smile spread across her lips. “I believe you, Luke. There’s just one other question I have to ask.”

“What?”

“Did you ever