Page 45 of The Two Halves of My Heart

Salt and copper and heat.

Finally, he eased up, and I could breathe again, panting as hard as Maddison had been a few moments ago. He looked down at me, a huge grin on his face, as he pulled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head.

As I turned to the side, I saw Oliver standing by with anguish etched on his face. My gaze dropped, and I tried to back out of Maddison’s grasp, as blood rung in my ears, and my stomach dropped through the floor. Guilt engulfed me at what Oliver had just witnessed.

Maddison let me go, now surrounded by other people I didn’t know. The man I saw at the start and some other guys pulled him away from us and back towards the way he’d come into the ring area.

I watched him go and shrunk back to the edge of the area, trying to pull my senses together.

“You ready to go?”

“Um, sure. Yes. Thank you.” I looked at Oliver, desperate to rewind the last few minutes and spare him that visual. I knew why he’d looked that way, and I knew where my guilt stemmed from.

Oliver had feelings for me. And I had feelings for him—I just didn’t know how to classify them or act on them without hurting Maddison because I had feelings for him as well. The two halves of my heart. And I couldn’t do anything without risking heartache to all of us, which was why I’d been content to play the ostrich.

I would never choose between them, and up until tonight, I was sure I’d never have to.

But that kiss changed everything.

I just never imagined how much.

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