Page 34 of Taste Of You

Ten

“I’m very sorry you feel that way, Millie. That I made you believe that.”

Camille shakes her head, and a few stray curls fall over her cheeks. “Why else would you be here? You said you never wanted to see me again.”

“I was wrong for that. If I had listened—”

“You hate me,” she whispers low while squeezing her eyes tight. “That’s how I know that this can’t be real. Should’ve never had that pint of mint chocolate chip last night…Sandy told me—”

“Baby, listen to me. I’m right here, and I am willing to do anything to make us right.”

“Leave. Please, I can’t carry on like this. Even mentally, I can’t hide from you.” Two fat tears roll down her cheek; they pool at her hairline, but the wet track is left behind as a marker of her pain. Of the heartbreak she’s wanting to escape from.

“I’m sorry.” Pressing my body against hers, I kiss the tracks left behind by those tears. “What can I do to make this right? To make you believe that I am real and want you. Need you to be mine.”

“Maybe I need to move back home. Transfer schools and…what the fudge!” Before she can continue with her ridiculous line of thinking, I flip her on her back with my body once more covering hers. Those blue doe eyes widen, her mouth slack.

For minutes she just watches me.

Her surprise is adorable, but even more so is her line of thinking that we are over. No. Never.

Even if Ana had never told me the truth, my control had begun to slip with each tick of the clock. Inevitable. Crumbling, my will died a slow death while my mind knew it was coming for her.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“W-What? I don’t—”

“I’m only going to say this once, beautiful. Are you paying attention?” She nods as shivers run up her spine. “I love you, Camille Johnson. Fell for you the moment you walked into my bar and shattered every rational thought I had. You own me, and I can’t even begin to explain how sorry I am that you think otherwise.”

“Don’t do this. You don’t mean that.” Tiny fists pummel my back, but the hits don’t have any fire behind them. They are weak at best. “Quit lying. You left me.”

And there is the underlying issue. Her biggest fear.

And you didn’t help that by walking away.

I wish I could kick my own ass.

“I love you,” I repeat over and over, peppering her face with kisses between each declaration. “Please forgive me, because losing you isn’t an option for me. Can’t let you walk away from me.” A sob escapes her throat, and her body shakes beneath mine. Curling my arms around her body, with one cupping the back of her neck, I hold her to me tightly, leaving no space between her body and mine. Try to take the pain away with reassuring words while it all pours out. “Please don’t cry. Your tears are breaking my heart, sweetheart.”

It takes a few minutes, but her cries turn into sniffles. She takes her time, closing her eyes while trying to get control over her emotions. “I don’t know if I can believe that. Trust you.”

“Open those gorgeous blues. Look at me.” And she does, staring deep into mine with so much innocence that my heart clenches. It reminds me of just how young she is, and all she’s suffered through. My little warrior. “It’s near impossible for me to walk away, baby. My heart is in your tiny hand. You hold my life.”

“Do you really mean that? That you love me?” Millie tries to mask the slight glimmer of hope in her tone, but I hear it. See the way her face relaxes a tiny bit each time I repeat those words.

“Yes.” I place a small kiss over the corner of her mouth, fighting back a smile when her lips twitch. “More than you could ever begin to comprehend.”

Unconsciously, she spreads her legs and cradles me between her thighs. Thick thighs I’ve been ignoring, trying to show her that I love more than just her body. It’s all her. The complete package. “Will you leave again at the first sign of an issue? Could you ever trust me?”

“Never and always,” I vow, laying my forehead against hers, letting her exhale become the life-giving air I breathe. “Leaving that day is the single most excruciating thing I’ve done in my life. I was wrong for doing so, and it has nothing to do with you or Lily. It’s me. My jealousy. A bitter pill that lodged itself inside my throat as I came to the realization that you weren’t mine. That I never had you.”

“But you were wrong, Jet. I was yours.”

“Paste tense?” My heart beat like a war drum inside my chest, afraid of her answer. And yet, I would fight for her if it came to that. Even if it’s against the demons I put into place with my idiocy.

Oh, Jet,” she sighs, her body finally melting against me. It’s her surrender, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “I love you too. Knew the moment you left that I’d never be able to love another. No one, but you.”

“This…us…it’s happened so fast.”

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