Page 134 of David's Love

“It’s not what you think.”

I like the tone of her voice now.

She doesn’t seem angry, caught amidst an emotional storm. She sounds like an investigator presenting her clues.

That could be bad, but it could also be good.

A smidgen of hope blossoms in my chest.

What can be so bad about her wanting to learn more about me?

“What do I think?”

“It’s not about sex and all that stuff,” she says like a queen, and I become humble in her presence.

Someone’s opinion of me has never mattered more, and the fact that she shows me clemency for my tormented past is suddenly the best news today.

It’s like I just found out she commuted my sentence.

“What is it about?” I ask, a bit more relaxed.

I grab a chair, turn it around, and straddle it before resting my elbows on its back.

My gaze is locked with hers. I see the fear in her. She’s done something. I don’t know what, but she has surely done something.

“Tell me,” I say.

“I found out some information about your past.”

The blood drains out of my body.

If it’s not that past. The sex and partying and all that.

Then, it must be the other past.

She studies my expression closely.

“Please don’t get mad. I wanted to tell you about this so many times, but every time I considered doing it, we had such a good time. I didn’t want to ruin it for us. Besides, things have happened fast for us. You have to agree.”

“What did you do, Elizabeth?” I ask sternly.

“Nothing bad. I mean… It’s not nice. And the fact that I didn’t tell you it’s reprovable but––”

“What did you do?”

“I knew about Anna before you told me her story.”

I tip my chin up and look at her down my nose.

“How?”

She shrugs.

“Elizabeth?”

“Okay. All right.”

Tears thread through her voice.

---