Explanations.
Questions.
Accusations.
Apologies.
“I’m sorry,” I choke out, clutching my chest. “You must be so angry.”
“I’m not angry with you.”
“You don’t need to sugarcoat it for my sake.”
“I mean it. I’m pissed, but not at you.”
“If not me, then who? Oliver?”
He shakes his head. “I’m pissed because everything’s changed.”
“Nothing’s changed. Not for me. You’re here…you’realive.”
“And it’s not just Liam anymore, is it?”
Silence constricts the air, heavy with the kind of disquiet that forces honesty, because those words carry a weight I’m not ready to bear.
“I’m sorry,” I repeat, though the apology rings hollow.
In the next instant, he crosses the room to kneel at my feet, and I can’t bring myself to face him when he’s this close—not with those sea-blue eyes cataloging every jagged piece of me.
“What are you apologizing for, Novalee?”
The absence of “princess” or “baby” shoots through my veins, chilling me from the inside out. I just got him back, and for him to see me with Oliver likethat, not even ten minutes into a reunion I’d accepted was impossible…
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” I swallow down the bitter rise of bile. “I regret every second of it.”
He thumbs away a tear from my cheekbone. “There’s no need for regrets.”
“Regrets are all I have.”
The last several weeks play through my mind in reverse, each moment flashing with vivid clarity.
Oliver standing in my doorway, a nightly silhouette, our connection built on shared tragedy and need.
Liam taking me in his bed, his claim on my body the linchpin that broke me down so he could put me together again.
Thecliff.
A sob breaks free. “You were gone!”
“I know.” He folds his hands around mine. “Whatever happened while I was gone isnotyour fault. You have to know that.”
“I tried to jump.”
He stiffens, and several suffocating beats pass as his complexion turns to ash. “What do you mean,you tried to jump?”
“Off the cliff. If Liam hadn’t pulled me back, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Novalee—” His voice cracks on my name, and I can do nothing but watch as he struggles to speak. “I’m…God, I’msofucking sorry.”