Page 61 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
“Yes,” he said. “Is that a big deal?”
I stared at him. “I came in here today thinking that things between us were progressing. That we were … I don’t know, becoming something. Which is crazy, and I’ve told Laura as much. That I’m stupid and insane for even considering that I might care for you. I should be running for the hills because you’re a dragon I only met a couple of weeks ago. Yet, instead of fleeing, I’m fighting a mental battle against myself to stay. Because I can’t stand being away from you.”
“Maddie—”
“No.” I cut him off with a slice of my finger through the air. “Now, I get in here, and I see you’ve still got her clothes. Two. Years. Later.”
Callum looked down, then back up at me. “They’re just clothes.”
I took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I’m still entertaining this. I’m an idiot. I really am. I have to be. But, Callum, there’s something about you. Something I really like. Something that—I really can’t believe I’m saying this—something I like. A lot. I could see myself, see us, being something more. But not unless you can look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that you’re over Noa. That you’ve moved on. Because I’m not going to be her replacement. I’m not going to be the second her. I am the firstme. And you have to know that, be aware of that, and be okay with that.”
He stared at me.
“Can you do that? Do youwantto do that?”
I finished speaking. The floor was open to him. He could say whatever he wanted in the giant, gaping space I’d created between us. Anything he wanted. Instead, Callum did the worst possible thing to do at that moment.
He hesitated.
Chapter Thirty
Madison
Ihad my answer.
A second stretched into eternity, widening the gulf between us. Something was torn in my chest. A pain I felt only in my mind but was somehow real all at once.
Against my better judgment, judgment IknewI should have listened to, I’d put myself out there. Exposed myself, raw nerves and all, and I’d been burned.
“I see.”
I took a step, trying to get past him, wondering if I could metaphorically leave him in my past as well. Just move on, leave him here.
Maybe, a part of my brain argued, maybe I was being too harsh on him. Perhaps it was too much to ask for him to have gotten rid of all her clothing.
No. It’s been two years. An item or two, perhaps. Everything right down to her underwear? No. That’s a sign of not having moved on at all.
“Maddie, wait.”
Callum blocked the doorway, preventing me from leaving. I glared at him.
“No. I’m done,” I told him. “I knew all along. I’ve known it right here.” I tapped the side of my head. “But I listened to other parts of me instead and stayed. I stayed here with you, hoping it would be different. Tricking myself into thinking itwasdifferent. All the while, I was just being groomed to be a stand-in for her.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“You got me aglanithat’s almost a carbon copy of one I saw a picture of her in,” I pointed out.
“What? The indigo?” he sputtered. “That’s because to wear a purpleglaniof any shade in public means you’re spoken for. Dragon women do this to announce they’re no longer available or seeking attention from unknown men.”
I frowned. “You didn’t tell me that! All I saw was a picture of her on the wall in the same outfit. And that still doesn’t mean you weren’t trying to make me look like her. All you do is compare me to her and how she was.”
“What are youtalkingabout?” he cried.
“I heard you with Baz! I heard how every sentence, everything you said about me, was always brought back to her. You think of me in relation to her.”
“You eavesdropped on us?” Callum was angry now.
“I was standing against the house under the window when you started talking,” I snapped. “I didn’t go looking for it. If you’d wanted the conversation to be private, you should’ve been more careful.”
