Page 61 of Sloth
“That’s exactly my point. You never asked.”
“I just wanted to wash myself. Jeez.”
“It’s more than that and you know it.”
And there it was. “If this is about how we left it years ago, then screw you. You hurt me too. I may not have lost a friend, but I suffered. My feelings matter too.”
“And what feelings are those?”
“I fucking love you, dumbass!” Her shout echoed through the rocky chamber, repeating. When it died off, tears burned her eyes.
“If you loved me, you would have tried harder to find me,” he murmured, voice scratchy. “You never called.”
He was right. She lost all will and fell to her knees in the water, submerged to her shoulders. She gave up. “I’m supposed to be this big, badass woman who can handle shit on her own. I know I should have called, but I didn’t.”
“But you never had to be like that with me.”
“I was lost, okay? I’m sorry. You have no idea what it’s like to live with this sin plucking at my conscience, telling me to ignore everything, telling me to forget. I can’t fight it on my own. I’m not good enough to do this on my own.”
He pressed his lips. “So now the truth finally comes out.”
That she wasn’t good enough? Bastard. She looked away. “I hate you.”
A harsh exhale, and Max splashed down into the water, kneeling before her.
“Look at me, Sloan.”
“What?” she snapped morosely, but refused to meet his eyes. She felt humiliated. Weak. Unable to fight anymore.
He fixed her with hard eyes. “I love you, too. Always have. Never stopped. And it cut deep that you ever doubted that. That you couldn’t trust me enough to ask for help, to goddamn pick up a phone and communicate! All you had to do was ask. That you didn’t…”
It hit her. He didn’t think she believed he could, that he wasn’t good enough to help her. Not when he’d failed the closest friend he’d ever had.
“Max,” she whispered. “That’s not why I hid. It was my sin. One hundred percent my sin. Me, not you.”
“It’s my fault too.” His eyes softened. “I should have called. Stupidly, I’d hoped the engagement ring I left was proof of my intention to come back but, I guess, you never received it.”
She sniffed. “No, I didn’t.”
“Too bad. It was perfect for you.”
Perfect for her…
She sat there, letting the words sink in. Wasn’t sure why, except they triggered a reaction. Some deep memory tugged loose from the corner of her mind. Bit by bit, the puzzle came together. The ring Wyatt had delivered to her room the other day flashed before her eyes. Perfect for her, not Wyatt’s ex, Sara.Holy mother of…Max was right. He’d turned up all those years ago, never intending to leave on an emergency mission, always intending to come back… and ask her to marry him.
Gingerly, she lifted her fingers to his rough jaw. “Sara had a ring. It was silver with a pink diamond heart at the center. Was that meant for me?”
Confusion, then fury flashed in his dark eyes. “Hell, yes. It was meant for you!”
He’d wanted to marry her. He’d left a ring. She was the first person he’d called after Gale died… and she’d moved on. That was enough to make him doubt her feelings.
There was only one way to make him believe.
Let him feel it.
She let the bindings holding her emotions go free. The flood gates opened and poured into him. The aching love, the fiery passion, the need.
His lips parted. “What—?”
