Page 88 of Truth Or Dare
I don’t want to.
I’ve been carrying this part of her, of us for so long knowing she didn’t remember what happened, that now that she does, it lifts a weight off my shoulders.
I swallow hard and nod. “Yeah.”
Her eyes widen with surprise. “I was your first kiss?” she asks, shaking her head in disbelief. “You hadn’t kissed anyone before me?”
Her blue eyes shimmer under the dark blue lights of the hot tub, and I shake my head. “No.”
She furrows her brow. “But what about Taylor?” she asks, her hair swirling around in the water as she moves closer.
“Nothing ever happened with her,” I tell her. “Or with anyone else.”
She sucks in a breath, her gorgeous eyes swimming with uncertainty, and I have a feeling I know what she’s going to ask.
The bubbles from the hot tub fill the silence as Gabi takes another step closer, her brows furrowing, and she locks eyes with me. “Why?”
I lift my hand out of the water and run it through my hair. “Why do you think, Gabi?” My heart pounds in my chest as she processes my words, her eyes widening with realization.
“You...” She frowns, shaking her head. “But you left,” she says, searching my eyes for answers. “You left that night and didn’t come back. You didn’t want me back.”
“You think I didn’t want you?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. “You think I don’t still want you?”
“You...” Her eyes widen. “You do?”
I’m done pretending that every breath I take isn’t for her. That the reason I smile, the reason I feelanything, isn’t because of her.
“I can’t remember a time when I didn’t,” I say, pouring my heart out as I swim closer to her. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Gabi.”
Tears well up in her beautiful blue eyes and she shakes her head. “How long?”
“What?”
“How long, Chris?” she repeats. “How long have you had feelings for me?”
I close my eyes, avoiding her gaze. I know what she wants to know. She’s wondering if it broke my heart to see her with every boyfriend she’d had along the years.
I open my eyes and meet hers. “Since the day I met you,” I confess.
She covers her mouth with her hand, shaking her head in disbelief. “All this time?”
My jaw ticks, and my heart aches. I don’t know what she’s thinking. Does she hate me for not saying anything? I don’t know what I’ll do if she walks away from me, and I never see her again.
“I never should have brought it up,” I say, reaching out for her. But I hesitate and let my hand drop. “This doesn’t have to change anything. We can just—”
“Don’t you dare say we can just go back to how it was,” she interrupts, anger flickering in her eyes.
My chest heaves with each heavy breath, our eyes locked together. “Isn’t that what you want?”
She steps closer. “Is that whatyouwant?”
I can’t lie to her. Not anymore. “No.”
She sucks in a breath, and like a moron, I move in closer until we’re inches apart. I can’t fight this. I’ve tried, and failed for years. I’m done trying.
“Prove it,” she whispers, pressing her hands flat against my chest, making me suck in a breath as she trails her hands higher, and higher until they lift out of the water, and wrap around my neck. “Kiss me.”
Either my brain short-circuited or I’ve just heard the love of my life tell me to kiss her. I blink, furrowing my brows. “What?”
