Page 100 of The Girl I Once Loved

“But will he succeed? Will he be able to give you everything you ever dreamed of?”

“He already has,” I admit, hating how my honesty only dulls his bright light.

“Then that’s all I can hope for,” Gael retorts, giving me a small smile of his own.

I really didn’t deserve this man. He’s too damn good.

I pray whoever he falls in love with next sees just how special he is.

Recognizes his worth.

Gael lets out a sigh and pulls his hands away so he can discreetly wipe away the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He then stands up and eats the small distance between us, placing his palms on my cheeks.

“I have to admit that this is not the way I played all of this out in my head. I thought if I came a couple of days early before the wedding, you’d see it for the romantic gesture it was and that we might make up. I guess I should have known when you stopped answering my texts that your heart was already someplace else. With someone else. But then again, it always was with him, huh?”

Again, I nod, because saying the words out loud just seems cruel.

And Gael has never been cruel a day in his life. He sure as hell doesn’t deserve me to be.

I cover his hands with mine and stare into his rich brown eyes that were once my saving grace.

“You are a wonderful man, Gael. One day you’ll find someone just as wonderful, someone who is actually deserving of you. I’m sorry that it wasn’t me.”

“I know,” he whispers. “And I also know how hard you tried to be. All I want is your happiness, Skylar. I thought that maybe I could love you enough for the both of us, but when I saw you look at him just now…that…that is what I want. True unrequited love.”

“And you’ll find it, Gael. I know you will.”

He pulls my forehead to his and we take a minute to say goodbye to the people we were to each other.

“I really did love you. Who am I trying to kid? I still do. Just be happy, Skylar. And if he’s your happiness, don’t let him go. You deserve love too.”

My own tears begin to sting my eyes as Gael leans in and steals a soft innocent kiss, his own way of saying goodbye. He then breaks away from our rigid stance and dashes over to his car, not wanting me to see the destruction I just caused. I hold onto the porch’s railing as tears fall down my cheeks, as I watch that part of my life drive away, never to return.

Strong hands wrap themselves around my waist, Noah’s chest pressed against my back as he places his chin on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asks calmly.

“As okay as can be expected.” I shrug.

“Do you want me to have a talk with him at the wedding? Maybe make him understand we’ve got history?” Noah suggests, trying to do his best to ease my guilt.

“Gael won’t be at the wedding,” I reply knowingly.

I know Gael.

He’s too much of a good man to go to my sister’s wedding, knowing his presence would only make things awkward for me.

“Hmm,” Noah murmurs before twirling me around in his arms and pinning my back to the railing. “You let him kiss you,” he adds, running the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip.

“I just broke the man’s heart, Noah. A kiss seems harmless enough in comparison.”

“Hmm.”

“Wait? Were you spying on us?”

“Not spying. Just keeping a vigilant eye on what’s mine.”

“I’m not your property, Noah Fontaine.” I cock a brow.

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