Pieces of You(75)

“Claire, please look at me.”

I take a deep breath as I open my eyes and he’s closer, just a couple of feet away, and staring down at me with that intense look in his eyes.

“You hurt me.”

“I’m sorry. I know I fucked up, but I came back for you. I quit my job.”

“You quit your job?”

“I quit. I took the job in Raleigh and I’m moving in two weeks.”

His green eyes search mine for a sign of forgiveness, but I don’t know what to say. I can’t tell him I wish he had come back a week ago.

“Am I too late?” he asks as the muscle in his jaw twitches.

I want to tell him the truth, but I can’t bear to place the image of Chris and me together in his head.

“I don’t know.”

He looks confused. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

I shake my head. “I just… I was so hurt and I thought you had given up on me. I mean, I’m a mess. I’ve got more baggage than any person should be allowed to carry.”

“And I’m strong enough to carry it. I just got a little scared, but it wasn’t because of your baggage. I’m fucked up, too. It had nothing to do with that. It had everything to do with what I heard in your voice that night you called me at one in the morning. You needed me there and I felt so fucking helpless because I couldn’t give you what you needed. I didn’t want to keep disappointing you like that.”

“How could you ever think that? You never disappointed me until you left me.”

He steps forward and takes my face in his hands. His hands are warm and I close my eyes to breathe in his scent. His lips are soft as he presses them against my forehead. The lump in my throat makes it impossible to speak as the first tears begin to fall. He kisses each of my eyelids and I grab his forearms to steady myself. His arms are so smooth and solid, exactly the way I remember them. I open my eyes as he plants a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth.

“I’m so fucking sorry. I promise I will never hurt you again.” He kisses the tip of my nose then the other corner of my mouth. “I promise I’ll make it up to you. I love you,” he whispers against my lips, but he doesn’t kiss me.

His breath against my lips gives me chills and I have to taste his mouth. I lean forward slowly and give him a soft kiss. He slowly slides his hand behind my neck and I kiss him again as I grow more eager. This time he kisses me back, but he doesn’t open his mouth and it’s driving me crazy. I take his top lip into my mouth and he pulls away before I can taste him.

“I love you, Claire. I want to be with you forever.”

Like a switch going off in my brain, I think of Chris and I want to crawl into a hole. I close my eyes so I don’t have to see Adam’s face. What the hell is wrong with me? I’m a disgusting person.

I have two choices: I can be honest with Adam about what happened with Chris and hope that he can still stomach me or I can leave now and go home to Chris.





Chapter Thirty-Six





Adam




I SEE HER MIND WORKING like crazy and I know she’s going to talk herself out of this if I don’t act quickly. Claire is notorious for overthinking every situation. She worked herself into a frenzy trying to figure out why I never visited her during the week when we were first dating. And, of course, she spent nearly a year in hiding from everyone she knew because she was afraid of being judged for keeping Abigail a secret. I need to do something before she convinces herself to walk away, but I also don’t want to rush this.

I look into her eyes and her eyebrows furrow. She’s worried about something.

Ah, fuck it.

I pull her face to mine and crush my lips against hers. Her lips taste exactly as I remember. I slide my tongue into her mouth and she moans, but then she pulls away.

“Wait.”

“I’m tired of waiting,” I say as I scoop her up in my arms.

She lets out a high-pitched yelp then laughs. “Hey!”

“Hay is for horses,” I say as I carry her up the stairs toward my apartment. “And I have a great horse joke.”

“Oh, no.”

I dig my finger into her side, where she’s ticklish, and she squirms in my arms. I nearly drop her, but I’m full of too much adrenaline from the anticipation.

“Open the door. It’s not locked.”

“No.”

“Claire.”

I give her the most serious look I can muster, but she just laughs.

“You don’t scare me.”

She musses up my hair and I turn my face to kiss the inside of her forearm. Her smile fades and she waits a moment before she reaches for the doorknob and pushes the door open.

I step over the threshold and kick the door closed behind me. “What did one horse say to the other horse when he fell down?”