Page 31 of Playing A Risk
I go slack. “Dorothy?—”
“No. Listen to me. I’m overwhelmed and confused. I keep saying and doing things that hurt you, and I don’t want to lean on you to get over him. How is that fair to you?”
That’s all it takes for my defenses to fall away. “Let me decide if it’s fair for you to lean on me. If I understand love, that’s what you do.”
She shakes her head. “What’s that?”
“When the person you love needs you, you’re there for them no matter how much it hurts. You’re who I love, so I’m offering myself to you. If you want my love and support through this, I’m willing to give it to you as long as I’m not misunderstanding what you’re feeling for me.”
“Okay, then. I’ll lean on you. If that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.”
She steps into my arms. I hold her, breathing in her floral and vanilla perfume. She has the power to break me into a million pieces, but I’ll risk it for her.
She sniffles. “Thank you again. I don’t deserve your understanding.”
And I don’t deserve yours.
Isabella’s email flies to the forefront of my thoughts. My therapist’s advice comes right after.
If you want to build a strong relationship, be honest with Dorothy. Isabella says you two slept together, but you don’t think that’s true. Either way, Dorothy deserves to know.
I squeeze her tight. It’s time I start being the man I want to be for her. My heart pounds against my chest.
I may be blowing my fucking life up right now, but I have to do this. “Let’s sit back down. There’s something I need to speak to you about.”
She steps out of my arms and we return to our seats, where she balls up in her chair. I grab a blanket from the chest between them, place it over her, and flip on the fireplace. She may as well be comfortable when I deliver another jab to her already delicate emotional state.
The timing’s off, but she needs to know. After seeing how hurt she is by Jamison for holding back his truth, I won’t take the chance of her finding out another way.
I sit before her and brace myself, ignoring the spikes of adrenaline pulsing through my veins. “I need to come clean with you about something that happened a while back.”
Her face pales. “What’s this about?”
“There was a time you were here, and I had just returned from a trip. You had mentioned you went out with Melanie the night before and I thought you meant you had slept with Jamison again. Do you remember?”
She nods and tightens the blanket around her shoulders. “That was a couple of weeks ago. Why?”
“Because I thought you were here to tell me you were… No. That doesn’t matter. The truth is, I’m trying to tell you I went to a club here in town out of jealous spite. I ran into a few people—Mateo was there.”
“How does he fit into this?”
“He doesn’t. I don’t know why I threw that in.” I bend over my knees and clasp my hands together. “That night, I ran into Isabella. She was at the club and we… I’m sorry, Dorothy, but she ended up back here. I passed out, and that’s all I remember, but she’s saying a lot more happened.”
Dorothy’s gaze drops to the floor, and I’m not sure she’s breathing. Tears fall off her cheeks, so I rush and kneel before her.
“Beauty, I’m so fucking sorry.”
She raises her head. “Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to hurt me because I have feelings for?—”
“No. I swear that’s not why. I’ve been speaking to my therapist about it since it happened. She said I need to be honest with you if I’m ever going to earn your trust. Seeing how Jamison hid things and hurt you, I don’t want to make that same mistake.”
More tears fall as she studies my face.
I stare into her eyes. “I know things may change now that you know, but I don’t want to lie to you or feel like I’m lying to you by keeping this from you.”
She wipes her face with the blanket. “Just so I’m clear. You had her over here, and that means you slept with her. Right?”
