Page 62 of Rhett

“There is if you’re willing to fight for it… for us.”

“I’m getting whiplash from your emotional windstorm. One minute, you want me gone. The next, you want me to stay. I don’t have time for games, Rhett. What do you want?”

“You.”

“Why now?”

“You are mine to claim. My fated mate. Don’t you see?” He flexed his fingers around the wheel. “I could have lost you. You could have lost me. I don’t know about you, but that was a big wake-up call for me. I can’t—” His voice broke. “No. I won’t continue to deny what we are to each other. Fated mates.”

“That’s lust speaking,” I countered.

“It’s not.”

“Maybe if we just fuck it out, you know, get it out of our system, then we could walk away with no regrets.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“No.” I sighed heavily. “But I had to put that option on the table.”

“Nova, I know this sounds crazy, but how about if we just hit restart on our relationship?”

“It’s not that easy, Rhett. You said some horrible things to me.”

“And I’m man enough to say I’m sorry.” He placed a hand on my thigh. “And if you give us a shot, I will never make you regret it.”

Part of me wanted to agree, but the other part—the scared and wary side of me—was terrified of opening my heart to a man who could break it easily.

“I don’t do romantic relationships, Rhett. I don’t want to hurt or be hurt.”

“So you don’t feel anything for me?”

I could lie, but it wasn’t who I was. “I do, but it scares the shit out of me.” I swallowed hard.

“I won’t hurt you, Nova.”

“In relationships, someone always gets hurt.” Placing my palms into my lap, I clasped them together to prevent my fingers from trembling.

“Did you have a recent breakup that went bad?”

“No.” I nibbled on my bottom lip. “I have lots of baggage because of my toxic relationship with my mother. She…” I allowed the words to trail off. I didn’t want to open that sealed-with-caution-tape box of hurt.

I sighed with relief when he pulled up to Bonnie’s house.Saved by the bell.

He parked the cruiser and turned it off. “Talk to me, Nova.” He turned and stared at me.

Glancing away, I peered through the window into the inky darkness of the night.

Minutes ticked away before I said, “For as long as I could remember, my mother’s love was conditional.”

Turning to study him, I carried on. “She expected perfection at all times, and if I failed, her wrath was like an emotional tsunami.”

He reached over, entwining his fingers with mine.

“I had a very lonely childhood, and even at school, I never fit in. When I left for college, leaving my mother behind, it was for the best because I knew that I had to say goodbye to a relationship that would never be.”

“Sounds like she hated herself and took it out on you. Nova, her pain is not yours, and it most definitely was not your fault that she chose to walk away from her family and Hunter life.”

“Deep down inside”—I tapped my chest—“I know that, but she inflicted so much emotional damage that the wounds are still there, just scabbed over, visible to anyone cruel enough to pick at the flesh, reopening them.”