Page 103 of The Twilight Theft

Drew nodded, running his hands down to my shoulders. “What do you want, Jayce? I keep asking and you keep avoiding the question.”

“I want someone to want me.” My mother had only wanted my spotlight and when I couldn’t give it to her anymore, she took my sister’s. All those men I stole for only wanted my skills. Even Scarlett only wanted me on the team so long as I could perform, and when I couldn’t, she sent me to my hotel. The tears came for real now. “Not someone who wants what I can get for them. Just me.”

Tanner had been my one chance, and I’d thrown it all away because my mother insisted I focus on training.

“Iwant you,” whispered Drew.

“No, you don’t.” My whole body shook in his grasp. “You want an orgasm and I’m conveniently in the same room. It’s not the same thing.”

I covered my face with my hands, so he couldn’t see my pathetic face or the tears that proved what a failure I was.

No one wantedme.

Chapter 39

Drew

TheCIAhaddrilledthe arts of influence and manipulation into me.Break down a person’s public walls, then find a way into the most intimate recesses of their soul.I could take anything from someone once they’d revealed that part of themselves.

Take her secrets. Take her truths. Like a drug.

But in that moment, I didn’t want to take anything.

I wanted to give.

Despite every time Jayce irritated the shit out of me, all I wanted was for her to see herself the way everyone else did. I wanted Emmett’s confessions to make a difference.

“If an orgasm were all I wanted, I’d be with Vanessa right now. But I’m not.” I eased an arm around her shoulders. Slow movements, everything designed to help her feel better. I dropped the timbre of my voice. “You told me to leave you alone and I tried, but I had to come after you. All the activity and glory, not to mention my job and my ex, are all at Mosaic. Instead, I’m here. Where I want to be.”

She stepped into my arms, still covering her face, burying herself against my chest. When I wrapped my other arm around her, she slid hers around my back, under my jacket. She balled her fists in my shirt so tightly she could have ripped the fabric.

How did this feel so right? How did it feel like she belonged there?

The woman was sobbing her heart out, but all I could feel was rightness.

Regardless of what she thought, I was there for her.

“Let it all out. You’re safe here.” I kissed the top of her head, inhaling the subtle fragrance of vanilla. Not sure why I breathed it in, but I did.

She took in a shuddering breath, holding onto me like I was her lifeline. “Why?”

“You deserve someone to take care of you.”

Her mother had all but abandoned her. Her father was nowhere to be found.

My parents had lied, but at least they’d been there for me. They’d loved me. Fuck, they’dchosenme and then hid it so I wouldn’t question my belonging. Was their lie really so bad? Or were my memories of them just tangled up in all the other shit I’d dealt with? Maybe I had to focus on the good years, instead of carrying so much resentment around.

“I can take care of myself, Drew.”

“You’ve been hurt.” I combed my fingers through her hair again, attempting to find something that would soothe her. “I don’t know all the details, but I want to make it better.”

“Why do you care? You hate me.”

It was an arrow straight into my heart, causing some sort of darkness to form deep inside. But then everything finally clicked into place. All the confusion washed away.

She mattered.

Her opinion of me mattered.

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