Never His Girl (Kings of Cypress Prep #2) - Rachel Jonas Page 0,58
thing I cannot say to you tonight. I’m begging you to ask me anything but that.”
She’s holding my gaze and I hold hers, not wavering.
“Fine. You want immunity?” she asks. “I’ll give you immunity on that one thing, but you have to do something for me.”
I already feel the weight of what she’s preparing to say. Even before she actually says it.
“I’m listening.”
Her chest rises and falls when she breathes deep. “In exchange for me letting you hold on to that one secret, you have to tell me everything else. Everything else.”
My heart skips a beat when her brow quirks.
“Can you handle that?” she asks.
I’ve held so much in I don’t think she really realizes what she’s asking me to do, but I also know I’m desperate to make things right between us. So, after deliberating for several seconds, and then scolding myself for not coming up with an alternate option, I cave.
“Deal.”
The look of shock on her face when I give in is hard to miss.
“I mean everything, West. No more lies. No half-truths. Everything,” she reiterates.
I nod once and even cross my fucking heart as it races, because I have to pull out all the stops with this girl. She never lets me off easy and tonight’s no different.
“You have my word,” I promise.
She holds my gaze for a bit, seeming to question whether she’s just made the right decision, and then she stares down her nose at me. Likely still questioning whether I can actually be trusted or not.
“Give me a sec to change,” she says in a clipped tone. “Then, I guess we’ll get started.”
She pops her brow and then steps to the dresser to grab a t-shirt and shorts. I pretend not to watch as she drops her towel and quickly slips into clothes. Next, she points toward the floor.
“Sit,” she instructs. “We’ll be at this a while.”
If she expects me to flake, expects me to bail in favor of holding what I know close to the cuff, she’s wrong. I’m about to bear my soul for a chance to win her heart. There’s no other way, no other choice. I’m all out of excuses. All out of options.
In other words, what I’m trying to say is… fuck my life.
The whole thing.
Yup. Fuck it.
Chapter 22
WEST
Moment of truth.
I stare at her, seated on the edge of her bed, looking every bit as nervous as I feel. But surprisingly, she hasn’t said a word yet. Maybe she’s not sure what to ask first, isn’t sure where to begin.
Her gaze shifts to the floor where I sit against her door, elbows propped up on my knees.
“Why?”
That one word falls from her lips and my gaze meets hers, letting every emotion she holds bleed from her and into me.
“Why… what?”
The question comes out quieter than I mean for it to. Kind of like I’m already shaken by this conversation. A conversation that’s barely begun.
“You’re going out of your way to convince me there’s something between us, but the last few months of my life have been hell because of you.” She pauses, shaking her head. “I need to know why. I need you to tell me what you think I did to deserve that.”
Her voice breaks when asking and it tears me apart on the inside.
There’s a short answer to that question, and then there’s the one that lets her into my world a little more. And seeing as how I’ve stormed my way into hers uninvited, I decide she deserves the whole truth.
“Our lives—yours and mine—they’re different, but not as different as you might think.”
Her brow quirks when she scoffs. “How do you figure that?”
I’m sure she’s thinking about the money, the material things, but I’m talking about a fundamental similarity. One that, at the thought of opening up about it, I’m already feeling exposed. I hardly even talk to my brothers about these things.
“Our fathers,” I reveal. “Neither of them really gives a shit. Not like they should.”
Southside’s expression shifts, softening just a little as she draws both legs onto the bed to cross them.
“Not sure about your dad’s history, but mine is a serial cheater with one foot in the door and one foot out. I’ve known he steps out on my mom since I was eight,” I share. “That was the first time I caught him.”
Her head tilts and I sense she has a question before she even asks it.
“You… saw him?”
I nod and hate that I remember that shit like it was yesterday. “Unfortunately,”