Page 37 of Regret

“Of course they matter. We will never have their blessing. They will never accept me.”

“I don’t care.” She turned her face to the side, but he took her chin between his fingers and forced her to look at him.

“Yes, you do care. You will never be able to be happy knowing that we don’t have your family’s blessing.”

“I love you, Hunter. That’s all I need.” She held his gaze and said the words that changed everything. “Let’s run away together.”

Hunter paused. “What?”

She scooted up on her arms. “Let’s run away. Go somewhere we don’t have to hide. Where we don’t have to keep our love a secret because of what my family or other people might think or say.”

“Blue, you’re not serious.”

“I am serious. Hunter, I love you. I want to be with you more than anything in the world.” She took his cheek in her palm, and he leaned into her touch. “I want to be able to be with you and to show the world that I love you with all my heart. I don’t want to keep on hiding like this.”

He placed his hand on top of hers and pressed it harder against his cheek. “I love you so much, Blue. Don’t tempt me into doing this, because you know I can’t say no to you.”

“Then don’t. Don’t say no.”

Hunter leaned forward and placed his hand behind her neck, pinning his gaze on hers. “I will never be able to give you what some other men can.”

“I don’t want other men. I want you.”

“Yet you deserve so much better than me.”

“Hunter Keaton.” She placed both her hands on his cheeks and those beautiful blue orbs seemed to look straight through his soul. “I am yours. You are all I want. I don’t care who says what. You have my heart, you have my soul, and no one can change that.”

“You need to be sure, Blue.”

“I am sure. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

He continued to stare at her, thinking about how damn awesome it would be to have her with him every second of every day. No more sneaking around and meeting privately. No more keeping their love a secret from the world. It would be a fucking dream come true. So the selfish bastard inside of him answered, “Okay.”

“Tomorrow?” Her face beamed with excitement, and Hunter’s heart swelled.

He nodded. “Tomorrow.”

She softly traced her thumb across his lips, and the way she stared at him almost had his heart exploding inside of his chest. “We can beat the odds, Hunter—you and I.” She pulled him down and kissed him softly. “Beat the odds with me, Hunter Keaton.”

---