Page 99 of Forgotten Promise

“No, it’s not. What did you do?”

“What everyone does,” she said. “I ate gallons of ice cream and cried myself to sleep for months.”

“That’s what everyone does? Did I miss a how-to manual or something?” The joke was so Benjamin, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why are you such an ass?” she teased.

He gave her a one-shoulder, good-natured shrug. “That’s just my personality shining through.”

“You really loved me?” she asked again, uncertain why it was so hard to accept those words. Benjamin had certainly proven that fact to her, both now and a decade ago. It was just hard to overcome ten years of feeling…rejected.

“I’ve never stopped loving you,” Benjamin said, opening his arms. She stepped into his embrace, soaking up his warm hug. “That was why I had to walk away.”

She sighed, her brain telling her the things her heart had refused to accept all those years ago, too hurt by his desertion and then his betrayal. Now she could see he’d been right to leave. “I know that. I just…”

He released her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “Neither of us was free to choose. We’re members of the Trinity Masters, legacies with way more than a working knowledge of how the society functions. We both knew back then that we were going to be called to the altar someday and that we would live the rest of our lives with whoever was beneath the robes. I never expected, never even let myself hope, that the Grand Master would place me in a trinity with you.”

“You left because you knew the longer we were together, the more it would hurt.” Kailani wished her younger self had been that smart, that strong.

“That’s what I thought at the time, though I’m not sure walking away helped. It still hurt like fuck. And every time I thought of you, bound to two other people, shit…” He raked his hand over his head. “I was so blinded by jealousy I couldn’t see straight.”

She shook her head sadly. “All these years…I harbored the hurt instead of thinking it through rationally, like you had.”

“I thought you understood why I’d broken things off. Thought you’d see things the way I had, that you would have known our relationship could never be more than a summer fling.”

Kailani gave him a crooked grin. “I should have known that,” she admitted. “But a nineteen-year-old in the throes of first love isn’t exactly a logical creature. I led with my heart, and I guess my brain never caught up.”

“And afterward, I was desperate to have you back in my life. I wanted my friend back. And when you said no to that…”

“To me, that made it seem like Paris hadn’t meant the same thing to you as it had to me. Because I was still heartbroken.”

“So was I. But I missed you.”

Kailani swallowed against the tears. “I missed you too.”

“I’m also sorry about betraying your trust, about my carelessness hurting your family. My actions weren’t intentional. Just stupid.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Forgiven,” she whispered.

He cupped her face in his large palms, and she saw him—the Benjamin she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. “If I’d been free to choose anyone in the entire world, I would have picked you, Kailani, and…” He paused. “And John.”

Kailani was so relieved to hear Benjamin admit not only his feelings for her but for John as well. “I always believed we were enough on our own, but with him, we’re so much better.”

“So much more,” Benjamin added.

This time, she gave up the fight, tears—happy ones—streaming down her cheeks. “Given the choice, I would have chosen you and John too.”

Benjamin bent his head, this kiss the polar opposite of their previous one. It was soft, an apology and a promise. One she would never forget.

Kailani wrapped her arms around his waist and felt his erection brush her stomach. She tilted her head back, narrowing her eyes at him.

“It’s not my fault. He’s missed you,” Benjamin joked, adjusting his dick in his pants.

Kailani laughed. “I’ve missed him too.” A few minutes ago, Benjamin had her pushed up against the door, her arousal raging out of control, yet even then she’d known…she wouldn’t have let it go all the way. She couldn’t. “But—”

“But this isn’t just about us anymore,” Benjamin interjected, reading her mind.

“It’s not.”

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