Page 97 of Inarticulate

“Well…” She shoved from the wall to stand tall. “Thanks for the clarity, but I don’t know what you expect from me.”

She knew. He could tell by the tremble in her fingers and the nervous swallow of her throat.

He chanced a step closer and leaned into her with his heart in his hands. “I expect nothing. But I would love your forgiveness.” He remained in place, so close to the soft temptation of her skin.

Her breath hitched, her chest expanded. “Is that all?”

She inched back, ripping the floor out from beneath him. He’d thought all he needed was to see her, to explain face to face. To whisper those words he’d wanted her to hear over and over again. But her expression was indifferent. Unemotional. She was successfully cutting him off.

She’d moved on.

“Please…” His throat was hoarse, from the influx of work, or maybe it was from fear. “Give me another chance.”

“I don’t think I can.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I want to.”

“Just one,” he mouthed. That’s all he needed. One more chance. One more opportunity to share all of him and prove he could make her happy.

“One more to go with the two you already destroyed?” She quirked a pained brow. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. But a third time? Come on, Keenan. I’m not that stupid and neither are you. You knew what you were doing and the results it would have if I found out.”

There was no denying the truth. He’d had one too many opportunities already.

“Okay.” Pain ricocheted through him with his stiff nod.

He’d never hated his inadequacies more. And compounding his self-loathing was the knowledge of his idiotic behavior—the ego, the need to protect his secrets.

He wanted to hug her. Just once. To kiss her cheek and inhale the scent of her that would never be comparable. Instead, he pivoted on his toes and stalked toward the elevator, determined not to look back.

“Keenan?”

Fuck.He stopped. Turned.

She stepped into the hall and gave him a sad smile. “Just so you know, I adored you, too. I adored everything about you. The stutter wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

Then she was gone, slinking into her room and shutting the door on the only thing he’d ever cared about.

Email

Date: 30thDecember

Subject: Chances

Dear Keenan,

I’m finding it hard to gain closure. Something in my chest isn’t sitting right. So I was hoping this email might help.

I want you to know that I did fight for you. You just didn’t see it.

The battle was internal. I combatted the pain of not being good enough, and the heartache of humiliation. I brawled with self-doubt and struggled to overcome things that were out of my control. But now I see that you’ve been trying to conquer all those things for a lot longer than me.

Please know that I did read your emails, your texts, and kept all your gifts. You words—written or otherwise—have always meant the world to me.

You also mean the world to the Augustines, so please don’t shut them out.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been given a wealth of information on all things Keenan Black. My aunt calls me incessantly. It seems she picks up the phone whenever she’s reminded of something you’ve done to make her smile.

Apparently, you’ve made her smile often.

She wants you to be happy. And believe it or not, Penny and Dominic do, too. I never thought I’d see the day when the cousin who hates me and the one who warned me away from you would both team together to play matchmaker.

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