Page 73 of Forgotten Romance

“Yeah …”

“Probably even more tough without a supportive family behind you.”

“What? No.” Davey wraps my hand in his. “You’ve always been more supportive than I deserved.”

I squeeze his hand back, knowing that I don’t ever want him to feel that way again. “No. We both fucked up in different ways, but I’m sure we can agree that I’m the one who pulled away. You might have physically left, but you always came back. I put that wall between us.”

Like he can’t stop himself, Davey shifts forward, face burying into my shoulder. I wrap my arms around him and hold him close. This is how we’re supposed to be.

“I didn’t want to hurt you anymore,” he whispers.

“You know what I really, really want?”

He glances up again, face so close I could kiss him. Those warm brown eyes search mine. “What?”

“To let it go.”

His eyebrows flex in question.

“I think it’s time we put it all behind us. I want to move on. I want to do that with you, however that looks for us. Friends, boyfriends, husbands. I don’t care. I’m working on myself, for you, for the kids, for me. I want to be happy again. But I can’t keep relying on you to be the one to do it.”

“But I want to make you happy.”

“I know, and you do. But you can’t be the only one. It’s too much pressure.”

“So … we just … move on.”

I cup his face again. “You okay with that?”

“Yes, but … nothing’s actually changed. I’m still leaving in a few weeks.”

“Yeah, and it’s going to hurt. But I don’t want you to think that you can’t talk to me if you need to. Like you said, your job is stressful, and you have a lot of responsibility on your plate. Let me help you.”

Davey’s shaking exhale is the only sound between us for so long.

“I’m going to come with you,” I whisper.

“What?”

“I looked up homeschooling today. And how it would work if we could do half and half, but?—”

His mouth crashes down on mine, hands finding the back of my head as he holds me to him. Davey makes no move to deepen the kiss, just keeps us pressed together in the type of connection we’ve missed for so long. I revel in it, heart soaring, hoping that this is it. This is the moment where everything makes sense again. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known,” he murmurs.

I hurry to shake my head. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Davey pulls back, slowly, like he doesn’t want any distance between us. “I’m sorry, but it isn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can’t do that to Kiera and Van. And you can’t leave the library—listen to how you were just talking about it.”

“But you’re more important.”

He glances down, indecision all over his face, before those gorgeous eyes meet mine again. “That’s what I was supposed to say, wasn’t it?”

His words hang between us for a long time.

“We said we were putting that behind us,” I remind him.

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