Page 71 of Tangled Up In You

Shock sent a numbing wave down her body. She didn’t know how to react. “What?”

“There’s so much more I want to tell you,” he said quietly, coming closer until he was standing in front of her again. “I’ve wanted to for so long…you don’t even know.” He set his hands on her shoulders and slid them underwater down her arms until he took her hands in his. “It’s okay if you’re not sure you want to fall for me, but I think I want to fall for you.” His words pulsed between them, sending ripples through her veins. “Unfortunately, I’ve never been good at talking about my past—I’ve never tried. Out loud.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone who knows me at school knows me as Robert Fitzsimmons’s son. They all assume that I was born rich, and I’ve let them. Every teacher, every roommate, every friend.” He paused. “Every girlfriend.”

Her stomach turned sour, and he studied her expression.

“I never wanted to tell anyone the truth, because people look at you differently when you’re a kid raised in the foster system, who’s adopted by a rich guy so he can get some good press.”

Ren frowned. “‘Some good press?’”

“It’s not important right now.” He squeezed her hands. “I’m telling you this because I’ve never liked someone the way I like you.” He delivered this with a flirtatious smile that he tried to hold on to, but it loosened into a grimace. “Which means that I want you to know the truth, but as you already know, I’m really bad at talking about stuff. Even thinking about telling you everything makes me feel sort of panicked.” He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “If I tell you and you don’t like me, then you don’t like me. Not just the story I made up.”

“I don’t mean to pressure you,” she said. “I’m not in a hurry. I just want to know you. It doesn’t have to happen right away if I know that you’re trying. That you want to be…” She couldn’t seem to get the rest out.

That he wanted to be with her.

“I do,” he said, picking it up anyway.

“Even when we get back to school?”

His brow furrowed, like he didn’t understand. “Of course. You think I only want you in secret?”

She shrugged. “I don’t want to assume.”

“With me,” he said steadily, “assume. Assume I want you. Assume if I’m actually saying it that it’s real.” He bent a little, so their eyes were level. “But I’ve done some bad things, Ren. Some really shitty things. It’s hard to feel like I deserve good things. And you…you’re the best thing.”

“Have you been in trouble with the police?”

A sad smile flickered over his lips. “Define trouble.”

She knew him. He was good all the way down to the marrow of his bones. “Have you killed anyone? Assaulted someone? Held someone at knifepoint?”

Edward pulled back, quickly shaking his head. “Ren—”

“Traded organs on the black market? Posted racist tirades on social media?”

A tiny smile. “Uh, no.”

“Abandoned puppies at the side of the road?”

“I might be an asshole sometimes, but I’m not a monster.”

“Then whatever it is,” she said, cupping his face and pulling him in for a kiss, “I can handle it. I just want to be with you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

EDWARD

Well.

It was a start. At least he could say that much.

But he could also say that it was only a few tiny truths, and he was left feeling completely depleted afterward. So drained, in fact, that he was tempted to let Ren drive them back into town just so he could close his eyes and not think for half an hour.

Edward wished brains had power-down mode. He wished life had an edit feature. He wished time had a pause button. He would hit it and close the door of their room in Nashville behind them and give them each another week in which they didn’t have to think about everything still coming their way.

---