Page 89 of At the Edge with You

“To keep me away from you,” he answers softly. “They never let a moment pass, telling me I shouldn’t have been chosen, that you were too good for me, that you’d never think of me as more than just a partner.”

I cover my mouth to keep in the sob. “And Phillip didn’t stop them?”

“He couldn’t, or maybe he tried. But I don’t know, Fable.”

“Why did you believe them? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They manipulated me,” he admits, and I watch his Adam’s apple as he swallows. “They made me believe it was my choice to walk away when, really, it wasn’t. If I had said no, it wouldn’t have mattered. They already had Colorado lined up for you to get you out of Thistlebrook and away from me.”

“I thought you wanted to go.”

“No,” he answers harshly, making me jump. “I didn’t want to be anywhere but with you, but they scared me. They told me if I skated with you, I’d never have money and my family would go into debt. Bea had already refinanced the house to help my mom pay for what they did make her pay for, and I couldn’t do thatto my girls.” He presses his nose into my hair and breathes me in deeply. “Then they offered me the Ice Thistle. Said they’d give it to me after my four years in Ohio were up as a thank-you for getting you the gold medal.”

Tears spill down my cheeks as I slowly shake my head. I lift his chin to look into his eyes, needing to know his answer. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugs. “I didn’t want to open old wounds. I knew you had nothing to do with the choice, and what could we do to change it? We were just kids, princess.”

I search his gaze, only seeing pain. My whole body hurts, but most of all, my heart. So long, I didn’t have him beside me. So long, I thought he’d left of his own accord. “But you wanted to skate with me?”

Compassion fills his eyes as he cups my face. “I did. I loved every moment of it.”

“I thought you left me because I was too much.”

He shakes his head vehemently. “No, I would never. I missed you every day, and when I’d write you, you’d never write back, so I assumed you didn’t care.”

My stomach drops as I cover my mouth. Through my fingers, I ask, “You wrote me?”

“Daily,” he says simply. “Did you not get them?”

My lip trembles. “No.”

He presses his forehead to mine. “Fuck, Fable. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have listened to them.”

My whole body shakes with a sob. They took him away from me. They stole my happiness. They stole part of my soul. As my tears fall, my heart pounds hard, and with each pump, I feel a little more fury. How dare they do this to him?

To me.

I stand suddenly, and he looks up at me, confused. “Princess?”

I can only shake my head as I grab my leggings, but then I pause before putting them on. “Wait, did Kitty know?”

He pauses, his eyes flashing with guilt. “I think she found out when the girls did. Bea and Kitty didn’t talk for a month.”

I curl my lips as I pull my leggings up my body. I am sick with anger. How could they do this! How could Kitty allow them to? Why didn’t anyone protect us?

Once my pants are on, I’m storming out of his office, but Jett is hot on my heels. “What are you doing?”

“Going to my parents’.”

He takes ahold of my wrist, stopping me. “It’s over. We’re happy. They don’t matter.”

I yank my hand from his. “No, they need to know that they already fucked me once, but they won’t do it again.”

“Fable—”

“No! Damn it, Jett. Why aren’t you angry?”

He presses his lips together, rocking on his heels, and he shrugs. “I was mad for twenty years,” he admits, his eyes clouding with tears. “But I got you back, Fable. I have you. You’re mine. And I don’t want to reopen old wounds. I just want us. I just want to love you.”

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