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“I’m in love with you,” I say. It’s selfish and not the perfect time, but I may never get another chance if I don’t say it now. “I love you, Opal. I know you wanted this thing between us to be casual, and maybe that’s still the case, but I’m so far past that now.”

“I’m past that too,” she blurts out, her tone bordering on anger. “It doesn’t matter though. What we feel doesn’t matter because you lied to me, William.”

“I did,” I admit because I want her to know all my truths. “I have things to tell you.”

Her shoulders push back. “What things?”

I look around the bar. I don’t want to do this here. This space holds the promise of her future, and if she decides I’m a part of her past, I don’t want the conversation we need to have to haunt her whenever she walks in here.

“I’d like you to come home with me,” I rush through that and keep going, “I want to show you my home, Opal. I think we should talk there.”

“Your home in Brooklyn?” Sarcasm laces every syllable. “Or the one in Tribeca?”

“Tribeca,” I answer succinctly. “I’ll explain about the apartment in Brooklyn and everything else.”

“Everything else?” she questions. “What else is there?”

Percy.

My job.

The constant ache that has taken root inside of me at the prospect of a life without her.

“There are things I want you to know,” I say. “Things I should have told you the day we met.”

She scrubs a hand over the back of her neck. “I should tell you to go to hell.”

“You’re right.” I nod. “You should, but I’m asking for an hour of your time to explain things. I’m a good man who made some bad decisions.”

“I’ve heard that from a man before,” she scoffs.

Someone hurt her. I see that now. I hear it in her voice.

“Please give me sixty minutes,” I plead. “If you never want to see me again after that, I’ll leave you alone.”

My chest tightens at the thought of that. My world without Opal is incomprehensible. Weeks ago, I didn’t know she existed. Now, I can’t fathom a life without her.

“Sixty minutes,” she repeats. “That’s all I can give you, William.”

I’ll take it, and use it to explain that I’m a better man than I’ve shown myself to be. I’m the best man for her, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that to her.

59

William

“I’ll flag down a cab,”I say to Opal as she locks the door to her bar. “Or I can order a rideshare.”

Shaking her head, she drops her keys into the tote bag slung over her shoulder. “I’d like to walk for a bit first.”

I have no problem with that because I’ll give her anything she wants. “Of course.”

She instinctively sets off in the direction of Tribeca. It would be quite a hike if we did it all on foot, but I’m game. Something tells me she wants a quick out if our conversation goes sideways. I can’t blame her for that. I have a lot to atone for.

“Who does the Brooklyn apartment belong to?” she asks as we round the corner.

“It’s mine,” I tell her. “I bought it years ago. It was the first property I ever purchased.”

Glancing at me, her eyes narrow. “You own it and an apartment in Tribeca?”