Page 95 of Tempt

But he felt the responsibility Elizabeth was talking about—the need to be better so I didn’t suffer from loving him.

“I’m scared everyday,” she said, “that I will be what ruins Adam. And I can’t handle that. I can’tbethat. I love him so much and he means everything to me. I have no choice but to be better for him—otherwise I’ll walk away. I will not bring him into my shit storm. I’d rather break his heart and save his life than stay and destroy us both just because I was too weak to walk away.”

“Don’t,” I said.

Her eyes flicked to mine and then her shoulders dropped. “Oh, honey. What’s going on?”

I shook my head. “The details don’t matter.” I took a deep breath to pull my emotions in check. “Theo thinks that way,” I waved my hand at her. “He thinks that he should break my heart and walk away to save me. But I don’t want that. That’s not how love works. It’s a two-way street. There are ups and downs. And you don’t get to decide how to love for the other person.”

Elizabeth sat silently for a long time, then nodded slowly before giving my foot a comforting squeeze. “Okay.” The tension between us settled a little before she spoke again. “Can you do something for me?”

I had a feeling I was about to get a return serving of advice. I nodded.

“Don’t hold on too tightly. The harder you try, the harder he’ll pull away. Love him, but love him loosely.”

I swallowed down the lump of fear that had hardened in my throat. “I’m trying. I’m really trying.”

Chapter 34

Iwoke up sweating. I do meansweating.Like I could feel the beads of sweat dripping down my back. But I wasn’t sick or hungover from the wine and champagne—I was broiling hot because I was too covered up.

That was when my eyes shot open and landed on an arm slung over my hip. I wasn’t alone. I was actually the opposite of alone. Theo was wrapped so tightly around me he was practically inside me.

Theo was here.

I took a minute to absorb how incredibly amazing it felt to have him hold me…even if it was while we were both asleep. His poor knuckles looked like hell. Bruised, scabbed, and split in several places. I chose not to think about why they looked that way, and instead focused on how many times I was going to kiss them until they were healed.

He was fully clothed, as if he didn’t have the energy to take them off. So I snuck out from under his arm and flicked on my fan. It was cold outside, so it wasn’t about temperature in the room so much as it was about airflow. There wasn’t much in this tiny flat and I’d found that my little fan was often the difference between life and death.

I slid back into bed, this time facing Theo. He didn’t move or stir once, which meant he was utterly exhausted, so I let him sleep. I was afraid if I dozed off he would sneak back out without saying goodbye, so I stayed awake, carefully memorizing every little thing I could think of.

The way he sounded when he dreamed.

The shape of his hip.

The way his hair looked fantastic all messed and worried.

But my favorite was the way his beard tickled my nose as I nuzzled in beneath it.

I laid listening to him sleep for a couple of hours when he suddenly started. His hands tightened around me and he made this terrible gasping noise a split second before his eyes shot open and focused on mine.

He looked haunted so I gently rested my hand against his cheek. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His breathing started to slow to a normal pace.

“What are you doing here?”

He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek into my hand. “Higgins said you were sad.”

“So you came?”

“Mmm…” Then he opened his eyes. “That and I was dead on my feet and the only place I knew I would actually get some sleep was with you.”

My heart fluttered and my whole body ached with need. I loved that when he needed peace he came to me. “Did you get enough?”

“No, but I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“Don’t say that,” I whispered.