Page 115 of Reckless Hearts

Like he’s holding on to more than just me.

His brow pulls, eyes flicking away, then back again like he’s not sure he heard me right.

“Mav…”

“I needed to be the best,” I confess. “Because if I was the best, you’d want to stay by my side. You’d be right there with me. Like always.”

The truth tears out of me, ugly, cracked wide open.

“And when you pulled away… I didn’t know how to fix it.”

Colt’s hand flexes weakly in mine, and for a second, I think he might let go.

But then he holds on tighter.

The shell he’s protected himself with cracks, revealing something raw and vulnerable underneath.

“I thought you left me behind,” he whispers.

The words gut me, sharp and brutal. No armor between us now.

Just blood, bone, and everything we never said.

A tear overruns his lashes, and I catch it, wiping it away with shaking fingers.

“I thought… you didn’t think I was good enough to stand next to you.”

He might as well have punched through my ribs and squeezed my heart bare.

“Fuck.”

I choke back a sound and bury my forehead against our joined hands, squeezing his fingers tight.

I don’t care if it hurts him.

I don’t care if it hurts me.

I just need him to feel it. To know it. To believe it.

“You were always enough,” I whisper against his skin. “You are enough.”

Slowly, carefully, I lift my head. My grip tightens around his hand. I bring it between us and press a kiss to his knuckles.

He gasps, chest heaving, but he doesn’t look away.

“You’re the best goddamn thing that ever happened to me, Colt Lawson,” I rasp, my voice torn to shreds. “You’ve alwaysbeen enough,” I repeat, driving it into the space between us like a stake in the ground. “I was just too fucking stupid to tell you.”

Colt’s breath hitches, his lashes fluttering like he’s trying to blink back the sting in his eyes.

“I hated you,” he says, voice splintering in half. “And I hated myself more.”

I don’t say anything, just give him space.

My thumb traces soft crescents against his wrist, the only comfort I can offer.

“I watched you win everything,” he grits out, a tear escaping down his cheek, “and I was proud. I was so fucking proud, but I hated you for not needing me.”

I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood.

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