Page 38 of Almost Ravaged (Men of Evercrisp Orchard #1)

Chapter thirty-two

Sawyer

I t was now or never, and somehow, despite the pull toward one another and the shared desire to be together, we still landed on never.

When I pulled that trigger, I knew there’d be a price.

The loneliness and the lasting trauma, I expected. But I never imagined Tytus and I would remain in this battle of push and pull, ebb and flow, back and forth for all these years.

We’re two magnets with the same charge. We can only get so close before life or fate or the sheer strength of our own polarity forces us apart again.

We almost had it all.

But almost isn’t enough.

I’m done. I have to be. I owe it to myself, and to Ty. I can’t keep hoping and wishing and torturing us with the prospect of a real relationship.

If I needed a sign, this was it.

We’re simply not meant to be.

I swipe at my eyes, dashing the tears before they can fall, and hold Tytus closer. I bury my face in his T-shirt, catching the view of the setting sun in my periphery as I mourn the loss of what we’ll never share .

It’s masochistic to keep holding out, hoping that next time we try will be different. The light’s snuffed out, and that’s how it needs to stay.

The kindest thing I can do for us both is let go of this feeble, noxious hope once and for all.

Silently, against his chest, I mouth I love you .

Then I drop my arms, take a few steps back, and offer him a watery smile.

“I’m going to go check on Cam,” I say out loud.

I don’t give him the chance to reply before I turn my back and solemnly walk away.