Page 16 of What He Always Knew

“You didn’t think you needed to mention you had agirlfriend?”

Reese clenched his jaw. “Like I said, it’s complicated. And I’m going to address this with her.”

“Oh, are you?” I laughed again, crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, that’s just great. Let me know how that goes.”

“Damn it, Charlie,” Reese snapped. “Stop acting like that and listen to me.”

“Acting likewhat?”

“Like you don’t care. Like you’re not upset right now,” he said, stepping into my space again. He lowered his voice. “Like you don’t want me to kiss you.”

A chill swept over me, electricity sparking low and hot between my thighs. My eyelids fluttered, and then anger surged in like a riptide, masking the desire.

“You are unbelievable.” I scoffed, throwing my hands up as I crossed the bathroom. “I’m going back to the table.”

“Did you forget that you’re the one who’smarried? That you just asked me —yesterday— to be okay with the fact that you’re staying with him for at least two more months?”

“EXACTLY!” I spun on him again, unwelcome tears flooding my eyes. They only made me angrier. “I’m married. And you have a girlfriend. So why didn’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because I love you.”

My heart sank, falling into a sad heap on the floor below us as my face twisted with the agony his words brought.

“Don’t say that to me,” I whispered, the tears spilling over now. I wiped them away quickly, furious that I’d let them fall at all. “Don’t lie to me anymore.”

“It’s not a lie, and you know it.” Reese stepped into me, his thumb replacing my own as he dried my tears. Then, he lifted my chin until my eyes met his. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her, Charlie. I am. I don’t have any valid excuse as to why I didn’t. And I know I have to handle things with her, but just like you, I need a little bit of time, okay?”

His eyes pleaded with mine, but my heart was already bruised by his hands, and now it cowered away from where it once ran to him for comfort.

“What are we doing?” I whispered, shaking my head. “We’re hurting them, we’re hurtingeach other.Why?”

“Because we know what we feel is real,” he answered simply. “Because you’re my home. Because I’m your happiness. Because I love you, Charlie. And you love me. And if there’s anything in this world worth making a mess over, worth fighting for, it’s that.”

My stomach twisted with pain again, but my heart responded to his words with a hard, steady beat. I didn’t know if what he said made any of this right, but I knew it was true.

Where did that leave us?

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I confessed. “I feel like I’m in a dream. A nightmare.”

“Trust what you felt with me this weekend,” he said. “What I know youstillfeel.”

“How?” I shook my head. “How do I know what’s real anymore?”

Reese’s knuckle lifted my chin, his lips lowering for mine, and I held my breath wishing for that kiss. I just needed something — anything — to bring me back to him, to the way it had felt over the weekend, to the relief and love I’d found in his arms.

But before his lips met mine, a hard, loud knock sounded at the door.

“Charlie? Are you in there?”

I pushed Reese away, wiping away what was left of the tears on my face before quickly crossing the bathroom to unlock the door.

Cameron stood on the other side of it once I swung it open, and I watched his face twist as confusion and concern for me morphed into a solid, unrelenting rage once he saw Reese standing behind me.

“Your parents were worried,” he said flatly, not taking his eyes off Reese. “As was I.”

“I’m fine,” I said with a croaky voice. I cleared my throat, sliding my hand into his. “I was just coming back.”

Cameron nodded. “Did he hurt you?”