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Rubbing my back, Jayden dropped to his haunches at my side. “Talk to me, I'm here to listen.”

“I don't think you're going to want to listen to me after this.” The tears kept coming, clouding up my eyes, and making it hard to see him.

I couldn't look at him, it hurt too much. All these years I was liar. It wasn't my lie to begin with, but it had become my lie, a lie I lived with, a lie that weighed down my shoulders and made me ache when I moved.

A lie that would change two people who were innocent from the start. It was my lie, and I was about to make itourlie.

It has always been our lie. . .

“Blue, I spent years running away from this town just to avoid you, there's nothing you can say that will ever push me away again.”

“Jay, you don't understand,” lifting my eyes to his, my voice cracked as I spoke. “This is different, this is far worse than just running away because you were heartbroken.”

Slipping his hand down my back and around my arm, he wrapped his fingers around my knee. “Just say it already, I promise, I won't go running again. I was weak back then, I'm not weak anymore.”

Scoffing, I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Don't make me any promises, because I'm not sure you'll ever forgive me for this, not when you learn the truth.”

“The truth. . .” Jayden waited a moment, tilting his head curiously. “The truth about what?”

“About why I wouldn't runaway with you, about why I pushed you away that day.”

A slight smirk teased his lips as his face softened. “Blue, I already know why.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do, your father hated me. And for a man of the lord to hate someone, that person must have been pretty bad.” Jayden turned me in my chair, laying his head in my lap and looking up at me. “I didn't just leave because you told me to go. I left because your life would be better if I was gone. I didn't have anything to offer you, at least nothing that was worth anything.”

Running my fingers through his hair, I rubbed his scalp and massaged his neck. “That's not true, that was never true. My life wasn't better without you, Jay, it was lonely and sad.”

Taking a short lock of his hair, I spun it around my finger. We stared at each other, neither one of us talking, even though I had a lot more to say.

“So you missed me?”

“Always,” I said, spearing my fingers into his hair, I tugged at his roots. “Always.” Kissing his forehead, all I wanted to do was touch him all over. Because I wasn't sure he'd let me near him after I told him the truth.

Placing another kiss on his cheek, I moved closer to his lips, kissing the tip of his nose, kissing his other cheek, kissing his chin.

Jayden threw his hands into my hair, taking control of my head and moving it where he wanted it. Pressing his lips against mine, he kissed me with so much force and passion I lost my breath.

It felt like he had sucked the air out of my lungs, leaving me breathless. His tongue pushed past my lips, swirling around mine, tasting and licking.

My heart fluttered, beating with more life than I had felt in years. Jayden had kick started the muscle in my chest, rebooting it like a machine that had been turned off for nearly a decade.

Scooping the back of my neck in his palm, he held my face in place. Sitting on his knees, Jayden scooted himself between my legs, forcing them to open wide. With a heavy grip, he held my knee in one hand and my neck in the other.

I loved the way he took control of me, the way he made my body do what he wanted with just a touch. It was incredible, a feeling I had missed.

Tell him before this goes any further! Before you hurt him again!

Pushing my hands against his chest, I said, “Jay, I still need to tell you something.”

“It can wait.” His tone was demanding, needy, powerful.

I could feel myself getting sucked in, my body moving to his beat. His fingers would stroke the side of my face and my head would roll to the side. His hand would move over my breast and my nipple would harden, tingling, ready for him to suckle it.

Tell him now before you're in too deep!

No more waiting!