by Marian Gray
“May I enter?” Lili Banach to stood right before my door frame.
I hadn’t spoken to her since the night of the party. “Yes,” I answered. Caution built in my stomach.
She stepped toward me with her arm out and hand open. I rose to my feet and accepted her handshake. Lili didn’t say anything, and the absence of words created an uncomfortable air. “Thank you for saving my life.” It was the only thing that seemed appropriate to say.
“I’m glad I was able to find you.” Lili offered a small smile. “My behavior toward you hasn’t been the most polite at times, and that was wrong of me. I want you to know that I believe you to be a most worthy adversary. You have certainly risen to the occasion and met the challenge of Banach versus Blackwood far beyond all of my expectations.”
A part of me crumbled on the inside. Lili was never going to view me as anything but the rival. And after eighteen years of her family grooming her to dislike me due to my last name, it was foolish of me to believe her conditioning would all be washed away in a single year. “And you as well, Lili. I look forward to another year with you. I have a feeling we’ll both select the same specialization.”
“Our families would be shocked if we went with anything else.” She obviously wasn’t very familiar with my uncle. “Until next year, Kim.” She announced her departure. “Remember to study over the summer. Don’t make our semi year too easy for me.”
“Have a good summer, Lili.”
She disappeared around the corner leaving me to pack. I bent over the suitcase, stuffing a few more shirts into the open mouth. My blinds flapped open and closed, disrupting the light in the room.
“Still here?”
My chest tightened at the sound of his voice. “What are you doing here?”
Elijah leaned against the door frame. His arms folded across his chest. “I wish I had an answer to that question.” His hair was pulled back in its signature bun, and the setting sunlight revealed a glitter of gold along his jaw. “I had an impulse to come here, and well, here I am.”
“You’ve always been great with self-control.” I teased.
“Right?” He shook his head, releasing a light chuckle. When the sound ended, he kicked his toe against the floor, and his eyes fell. The air chilled. “This could possibly be the last chance I have to see you, and I couldn’t—” His lips buttoned together, silencing himself.
“You couldn’t what?” I wanted him to finish the sentence. I wanted to hear that he couldn’t let things end like this or that he couldn’t stand not to see me one last time or that he couldn’t stand to see me fade from his life. My insides ran cold. I had to stop putting myself through this punishment. And yet, every time I looked at him, my love for him blossomed once again. Even if we continued with our lives, never to speak to one another again, a piece of my heart would forever belong to him.
“I hope you understand why I did the things I did after we broke up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt you anymore than I already had, and I feared that if I was anything but cold toward you, I would be leading you on.” He swallowed hard. “I guess I was trying my best to cut you loose, but I forgot to release myself as well.”
Pressure built in my lungs. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Because I hate myself for giving up. I hate that—"
“Elijah.” I cut him off. “You’re not the one that should feel guilty and apologize. It took me a while to see, but you were right. I did choose James over you. I was more concerned with my image than your happiness. I had become a conceited coward. And I’m sorry.” I released a cumbersome breath. “I just wish you would have given me a chance to say that weeks ago.” I offered him a soft smile, despite the emotional storm that brewed inside of me. This was a moment of closure not reconciliation. I had to let him go. But I only wanted to fall into his arms.
“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “But I didn’t want an apology from you, Kim.”
“Then what did you want?”
“You.”
My heart leapt into my throat. “Me?”
“Yes. I don’t want to go through another day without you, even if that means we have to hide from the media. I don’t want to have to avoid your eyes, because they break me every time I see them. I don’t want to numb my entire being just to be able to be in the same room as you. And most of all, I want to be able to sleep at night without tossing and turning, tortured by my loss. Those aren’t actions of a man who’s fallen out of love.”
My jaw dropped and eyes widened. I commanded my tongue to move, but the thing laid lifeless in my mouth. I didn’t know what to say. My mind couldn’t process it. My insides were exploding with joy.
He rubbed his lips as a light pink built across his cheeks. “I’m telling you I want more.”
“Then come and take it.” I extended my hand out to him.
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About the Author
Marian Gray is a fantasy romance author from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling the world and embarrassing herself in foreign languages. She has a strong passion for reading at a snail’s pace and plans to one day visit all fifty states with her daughter and husband.
www.mariangray.com
[email protected]