Page 66 of Dare to Fall

Garth’s eyes were the color ofchange.

33

Garth

I wassurprised when she agreed to come back to my place. As we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, she still seemed pretty shaken up from the encounter with Connor’s mother, so I invited her over for some coffee.

It was a beautiful fall day, so we walked the few blocks from the restaurant to my loft in comfortable silence. As I opened the door to my loft, I watched her as she took in her surroundings, moving slowly from the entrance to the middle of the space.

“Wow,” she breathed. “Your place is beautiful.”

“Thank you,” I said as I took her purse and hung it up on the hook by the door. “You can sit wherever you like while I get the coffee ready.”

I headed into the kitchen and grabbed the espresso beans from the cabinet. Eva sat on the large leather sofa centered in the middle of the loft with a view of the kitchen. She turned her attention to the far corner where all my canvases were leaned up against the wall, each one an empty square waiting to be covered in whatever inspiration struck me next.

“It reminds me of my living room.”

“Which part?” I asked.

“Drema has her canvases sprawled all over our living room too. We haven’t even bothered to put a TV in there because her canvases take up too much space. But I don’t mind it. I enjoy watching her paint while I study.”

“Yeah. That’s an art form I never had an interest in.” I poured the espresso beans into the grinder and placed the lid on top. The aroma of the beans swirled around me as the grinder did its job.

“Do you mean acting?” Eva asked as the grinder lulled to a stop.

“Yes. I’ve never understood the desire of being someone you’re not—even if it is to convey a story. Plus, the people in Hollywood are so far removed from the realities most people face it’s hard to take any of them seriously.” I placed the small espresso cup and saucer on the coffee table and took a seat on the sofa next to her.

“You seem to have a pretty jaded perspective,” she said with an arched brow.

I chuckled and took a sip of the steaming hot espresso, feeling the warmth slip down my throat. “You might be right.”

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, each of us sipping out of the mugs. I could already see a slight improvement in the color of her skin since we had lunch. The rosiness of her cheeks became brighter compared to the pale monotone her face had held when I first saw her walk out of the photography class.

It scared me, seeing her look so frail and worn down. I hated that this guy had impacted her so much that she let her health suffer. Though, I knew it probably wasn’t just his actions but the fact that the story had landed in the news.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked as I put my cup onto the coffee table.

She pulled her knees in close to her chest and balanced her cup on the top of her knees. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so exhausted in my life. Not even compared to second year as a pre-med student during finals week. I just feel drained from all of it, and it feels like every time I turn a corner and try to take my next step, life decides to throw another major curve ball, and I end up right on my ass again.”

“My parents always said that bad things come in threes. I’m not sure why life gets so complicated sometimes, but I know you’re a strong woman, Eva, and even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, all of this will soon pass, and you will be able to move forward again.”

“I hope so because I’m not sure how much more of this I can take,” she sighed.

“Have you spoken to Connor about it yet?” It was the question I had wanted to ask her from the moment I saw her earlier this morning, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react. So, I waited until the dust settled and hoped it wouldn’t push her over the edge.

An unreadable expression passed over her face as she set her cup onto the table and folded her legs in a crisscrossed position under herself. Worry pulled at my chest, waiting for her to respond. Maybe it was too soon. And maybe it was none of my damn business. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to know if she had decided to stay with him after everything he’d done to her.

The hot liquid did nothing for the dryness of her throat when I heard her swallow as she met my gaze with those warm brown eyes. Rays of the afternoon sun beamed through the bay window behind her, revealing the golden strands of her hair highlighted throughout the beautiful auburn. It was a palette of colors I could paint with forever. So rich in tone and meaning. My fingers twitched with desire to start blending colors, but I clenched my fists closed and waited for her to respond.

She bit her lower lip as if she was searching for the right words to say. The way her white teeth sunk into the tender pink flesh of her lower lip sent a jolt of desire through me. I wanted to be the one to bite that lip, to kiss every inch of her tight little body, to worship her in the way she was meant to be.

But I wouldn’t cross that line. Not with her. Until she told me that she was no longer with Connor and felt strong enough in herself to give this a try, I wouldn’t touch her.

“Yes, I’ve spoken to him.” She picked off some lint from her leggings then looked back up at me. “I told him that I saw him kissing another woman the other day. He didn’t even try to deny it. And when I told him I knew it was his professor, he freaked out on me and thought I was going to tell on them.” She let out a strangled laugh. “He was more worried about her getting into trouble and losing her job than the fact that I knew he was having an affair. For all the years we spent together, he never stood up for me like he did for her. Even when his parents would say belittling things—right in front of me—he never stood up for me. He’s in love with her in a way he never was with me. Honestly, looking back, I’m not sure if he ever was in love with me or if I just suited his lifestyle by molding myself exactly to what he wanted me to become.”

A melancholic look shadowed her face. I hated the way her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. Seeing her withdraw from the beautiful light that was hers to shine broke my heart in a way I’d never experienced. Raw emotions flowed through me, suffocating me. It was as though I could feel her pain as if it were my own. I took in a deep breath to alleviate the nerves building up as I saw tears well in her eyes.

“That wasn’t even the worst part of it, though. Some part of me felt settled in ending things with Connor. Six months had passed since things had felt good between us, and I was wanting so much more than he could give me. When I decided to change my major and he wasn’t supportive of that, it seemed like a natural progression for us to go our separate ways. But after everything I gave him, after all the sacrifices I’d made, he asked me to stay with him so his parents wouldn’t find out and the professor wouldn’t get into trouble.” With the sleeve of her sweater, she wiped away the tears from her cheeks. Redness bloomed on her pale skin from where she rubbed too harshly.

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