Page 101 of Give Me Forever

"Because things can happen. You can change your mind, or I can, or things fall apart, and then you’ll regret that you stayed here."

"Way to be optimistic about the future." I was stunned.

In my mind, I’d kept rehearsing how I was going to break the news. The only variations were the words I would choose, but I had to admit I always thought her reaction would be to jump my bones and tell me how happy she was that I wasn't going anywhere.

"You don't mean that," I said.

She ran a hand through her hair. "It's just that I know how important dreams are and how crucial it is to go after them and fulfill them."

"So what you're saying is, if someone told you they would exponentially grow your business if you moved to London or something, you'd just pack up and leave."

"That's not what I'm saying at all."

"Sounds to me like you are. You're basically telling me not to choose you because you're not sure you want me for the long run."

She gasped. "Sam... I’m sorry. Is that what I said? It's not what I meant. Oh God. I’m so confused."

"Take all the time you need to think about what you really want to say. But for now, let’s just go join everyone and enjoy the rest of the day. I don't want us to continue this conversation right now."

“I agree. We both need to think about... everything. Let’s get back inside. I don’t want anyone to worry.”

“Sure.”

My tone was clipped. The legendary Maxwell confidence led me to think that Avery saw the future just the way I did. But apparently she didn’t.

I was starting to feel like an idiot.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Avery

Icouldn't sketch.I couldn't even work on organizational tasks. Quite honestly, I couldn't focus on anything at all. It had been two days since Thanksgiving. The rest of that evening went by awkwardly. Sam mostly spoke with Travis and Luke.

Kimberly, Reese, and the rest of the girls kept me occupied by giving me a million jewelry orders. Once we came home, we went straight to bed with no sexy times. The next morning, Sam went to the hospital before I woke up.

He hadn't come home since. First, I thought something must have switched up at the hospital and he had to take another shift, but now I was fairly certain he was avoiding me. I didn't like the way we'd left things, and he was clearly pissed off. To be honest, after he left, I rewound our conversation, and I got mad too. How did he turn everything against me? I'd never, ever told him I wouldn't choose him. Still, the truth was, deep down, I wantedSamto chooseme. I just didn't want him to know I wanted that because I was also afraid of him giving up his dream and resenting me for it.

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