He let out a humorless laugh.
"What?" I asked.
"You're being mean. You're saying you're okay with messing around with my feelings."
"No, I'm saying I'm okay with you messing around with mine," I said. Hot tears overflowed my eyes and spilled out onto my cheeks. I was wound up, and I felt mad that he was teasing me about something I had wanted for so long and had finally gotten over.
Charlie could see that I was now serious and upset, and he stared at me, looking me over intently and trying to figure out what to say. He took a deep breath and made a face like he was about to say something but then stopped himself. Finally, he spoke.
"Hope, I can't tell what you want, so I am going to leave you alone. You obviously need to figure out some things on your own." He put a hand to his chest. "As for me, I want you. These last few days apart from you only confirmed that. But I want to be with you in ways that you don't want to be with me. That's something I can't change. I can't change what happened with Savannah or the fact that I married her. That whole thing is just part of who I am now. If you can't bring yourself to love me as the man I am now, then there's nothing I can do about it."
He stood up.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes. What else can I do? If you'll tell me something I can do to earn your trust or make you love me, I'll do it."
I sat on the couch and he looked down at me, waiting for my answer. My cheeks were tear-soaked and I stared up at him as hopelessly as I felt.
I didn't know what to say.
I couldn't think of anything he could do, shy of becoming a time traveler.