t done figh

in his head long af

pen in front of him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at it. Not when everything that actually mattered was slippin

e couldn't stop seeing it, the way her fin

vo

houghts, over and over, blunt and b

. Couldn't. It was still there on th

ly gone thro

thought she

s

forgiveness. That her loyalty was

en so,

est, like someone had reached inside him while he sle

los

o

t y

could sti

slowly, scrolling th

it three ti

irect. D

n't li

ow to write a persuasive pitch, n

to her now, she thought, a d

ignore the ache twisting in her chest. She had a meeting in two hours, and falling

out

tick, and flinched at the

r knocked

fr

stant, her hea

was

rse it

at his sides., like he was holding himself together by pur

.m. regret, his car had taken him straight to her

poo, hovering somewhere deep in his

just enough to see him, h

wed. "You shou

kno

an email. Tha

wasn't enough f

with a quiet finality. "So now what, Ethan? You want to talk

ned. "I've alw

ea of me. The convenience. The support. Y

got lost in the hustle. I thought

e doesn't pause just becau

eserve your forgiveness right now.

Her guard was sky

dn't bl

nner and didn't even bother to call. Or maybe when I stopped seeing that look in your eyes... the one that was begging me to jus

blinking back tears, her b

Ethan said softly. "But I promis

you're lonely? You want cre

nd my way back to you... and this time, I want to earn it." If that means s

can't just mend a broken heart

is voice cracking with something

was a

ered. "But I left you f

er bare feet, her hands s

lding itself together. "Why not months ago? W

e said. "I thought you'd ne

softened, just a tiny flicker of the wom

n it wa

e anything," she sa

But it's

d toward

"Let me take

pa

d quickly. "Just as a man who

at. "Please... don't make pro

s eyes locked on hers with qu

dn't s

dn't say n

f her closet, eyes fixed on the red dress hanging there

used to call tr

lingere

oing to dinner or walking in

er needed to se

and o

h trembling hands, her heart t

glancing at his watch for what felt like the hundred

ome. Maybe he'd ruine

en he

like a storm d

his body like she'd

o

cross from him

d for the

or his soul w

bly, like a man who'd just watched his entir

her voice soft but

urt me aga

ust leave

everythin

le while I wa