Page 130 of Tell Me Something True

Bending at the knees, he ducked his head, capturing her gaze with his. “You, Verity Jennings, are one of the bravest people I know. And it fucking kills me that you’d ever be afraid of anything.”

***

Verity shut her eyes as if to block him out. Reed suspected that if she thought she could get away with it, she’d cover her ears with her hands and sing a little la la la song, too.

But it was too late. He’d said his piece.

Even if he should have kept his damn mouth shut.

He’d complicated whatever this thing was between them. Gave her too much insight into what he really thought about her. Came too close to letting her see how he truly felt.

Instead of severing that last, worn piece of rope connecting them together, he’d tightened it, tying it into a knot.

But he couldn’t keep silent when she looked so sad. So lost. Like one wrong decision was going to ruin her life.

A girl like Verity Jennings should never be afraid.

And she sure as hell should never doubt herself.

Then again, she shouldn’t be standing so close to some loser in a parking lot, either, letting him inhale the coconut scent of her hair. Imagining himself wrapping his hands around her braids while he pressed his nose against her neck where it curved into her shoulder, and breathed her in.

Her eyes opened and he stared into them because he could.

Because while she shouldn’t be letting him stand this close to her, she was.

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and he dropped his gaze, watching the movement. His heart picked up speed. He wanted it to be his tongue swiping across her full lower lip. Wanted to trace the perfect cupid’s bow on her top lip with his forefinger, then cup her cheek and press his mouth against hers.

“They’re not mutually exclusive.”

Even though he watched her mouth move and heard her voice—a little shaky, a little uncertain, exactly how he felt whenever he was around her—he was so lost in wishing for things he’d never get, he had no idea what she said.

“What?”

She did that thing where she tugged her lower lip into her mouth with her top teeth, then released it slowly, dragging her teeth across the pump flesh, leaving it pink and slightly swollen.

Jesus. Just kill him now.

“Courage and fear,” she said. “They’re not mutually exclusive. You can be both at the same time. That’s the definition of bravery. Being afraid but doing it anyway. Which is how I can be afraid of spiders but pick one up from the corner in my room and put it outside. How I could take Ian to the circus last summer even though I’m scared of clowns—”

He shuddered. “Fucking clowns.”

“Right? Why are they the creepiest? Anyway, I have a lot of fears. Like most reasonable people, I’m afraid of the possibility of war and pandemics and climate change. But I’m also afraid of someone else I love dying. Like, all the time afraid of that which I suspect is a trauma I share with my brothers due to our parents’ deaths. And I’m afraid that if I do ever have kids, I’ll be a terrible mother because I don’t remember having one.”

She took a long inhale that was so deep, and because he was standing so close, had her tits coming within an inch of brushing against his chest.

He went still as stone. All except his dick which leapt, like it was trying to drill its way out of his coveralls to get to her.

“But mostly,” she continued, now that she had a refill of oxygen, “I’m afraid that my brothers resent having to take care of me after our parents died. Urban said he doesn’t regret it, but he gave up everything he’d planned for his future. And Urban, Miles, and Toby have done so much for me, but what if,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion, “deep down, there’s a part of all of them that secretly hates me?”

Her eyes filled with tears and his stomach dropped, the sight of her eyes glittering with tears, making him want to burn the whole world down.

If this girl cried, he’d lose his fucking mind.

“They don’t.”

“How do you know?” she asked with a sniff.

And she crossed her arms again.

---