Page 124 of Fool Me Twice

“You weren’t supposed to be involved. She didn’t know about you, and even if she had, apparently it shouldn’t have worked on you. But…the curse changed. Beyond what she thought it would be.”

“What do you mean it changed?” Hart asked.

“It was supposed to get bigger and bigger as it jumped from person to person, chipping away at me until it was all gone,” Cane said. “It all hinged on how important certain people or things were to me. How important I thought they were. Ares was supposed to be the last one.”

“But…”

“But it was you, in the end,” Cane said, looking into his eyes as he admitted his biggest weakness. “The curse recognized you as the one who could fuck me up the most.”

“But I’m a cursebreaker. I have nothing to do with your business,” Hart whispered, hope growing even though he was scared to let it. He felt like he was a soft breeze away from falling off a precipice.

“Don’t play stupid with me, sweetheart. And no need to fish for declarations either. You know.”

“What?” Hart asked, feeling his face flame, his entire body set on fire. Cane had implied it before. He’d shown Hart. Told him the crude version of the truth. But this was different. This was THE moment, and Hart knew now that he couldn’t let it slip through his fingers again. “Tell me.”

“You know what you are to me,” Cane said, shuffling closer with Hart’s hand still on his stomach, putting them nose to nose. “What you’ve always been. The power you hold over me.”

“I need you to tell me,” Hart breathed, knowing he was playing dirty, but he needed to hear it. Needed the lingering voices in his head telling him he wasn’t enough to shut up. Needed the words put into the universe so he could know they were real and tangible.

“You were always mine, Hart,” Cane said, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. “In my heart I never let you go. I just waited for you to figure it out and come back to me. I was hoping this would…”

He trailed off and let the words drift away, frowning slightly before pulling back.

Hart crawled after him in panic. “Cane…”

“The curse is gone now. The case is done, and you’re safe. That’s what matters. You’re safe, and you’ll be safer away from me.”

Hart crawled straight into Cane’s lap. He did it gently, mindful of the injuries Cane had sustained, but still firmly enough to show Cane he was there. He was with him. He was staying.

He wrapped his arms around Cane’s neck and leaned his forehead against his.

“I need you to hold me back,” he said into the tiny sliver of space between them. Cane’s arms came up without a second of hesitation, wrapping themselves around Hart’s waist and pulling him closer.

Possessive. Just like he should be.

And safe, the way Hart only ever felt with Cane.

“The curse never had a thing to do with us, Cane,” Hart said, closing his eyes. “It still doesn’t. I want you.”

“Want was never an issue for us, sweetheart. We’re from different worlds though. I think you always knew it, but this shitfest just proved it to me beyond a doubt. You could have been hurt. You could have had your life fucked up beyond repair. Because of me.”

“No.” Hart shook his head. “This wasn’t on you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I contributed to it. I played my part, Hart,” Cane said, stroking his back. “I gave you so much shit for it, but you were right to disappear on me.”

Hart gripped Cane’s face in his hands, mindful of the stitches.

“Listen to me,” Hart said, his heart thundering in his chest. This was it. He couldn’t mess this up. He couldn’t hide anymore. “No, I wasn’t. I was wrong the moment I walked out on you without a word. I was wrong every single time I put the phone down instead of calling you. I was wrong when I tried to find you in other people, and I was wrong for behaving like I hated you when I never did. Cane…”

“Sweetheart…”

“I need you,” Hart said, conviction dripping from his lips. “I accept what you did, and I still need you.”

Cane was solid beneath his fingers. Real. Tangible for the first time since they’d met. He felt like an actual option, and Hart allowed himself to want that. More than he’d ever wanted anything else. He allowed himself to take for himself. He allowed himself to be selfish in the right ways.

“And not just to fuck me out of my own head so I can keep being perfect, but to stand with me when I’m not. Because I’m really not. I never have been. But you’re the only one who never had an issue with that. The only one who saw straight through me and took me with all the broken bits without ever trying to make them fit together.”

“You’re not broken, Hart,” Cane said, his voice thick and his arms around Hart tightening even more.

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