Page 457 of Now and Forever

“No, not an ex, but he was my first. Things aren’t really like that with us. I like you, Jared, very much.” Jared pulls me up to my feet so we are facing each other.

“Alright, I understand where you are coming from, but the most important question is, do you want him back?”

Drake . . . I love him, but Shannon, their almost baby and the fucking past are always going to be there. When it comes down to it, I don’t trust Drake not to break me again because he will. He already did once before, quite callously, too.

“No, I don’t want him back,” I state with conviction.

“Good. That’s all I need to hear. Two weeks and you’ll be mine?”

“Yes.”

“Mine in two weeks, I can’t wait until I can claim you as mine,” Jared whispers before he takes my lips and kisses me.

The kiss is good, hungry even, but compared to Drake’s . . . this kiss lacks something. Or maybe it’s me who lacks something. Yeah, that would be my heart.

It’s possible to lose your heart along the way. It dawns on me that life does go on after love. That one can go on with just a partial part of your heart-or none at all-depending on how much love you granted that person. In my case, I’m trying to scrape back what little I have left because Drake took most of it away, leaving me with the crumbs.

With that, though, I am determined to build something out of it. Maybe I’ll grow another heart, another love.

---