Page 59 of Flame Kissed

“Whatever you want to say to her, you can say to us,” Rory and Sierra moved to step in front of her, but Leilani stopped them.

“Hey, it’s alright. I want to hear what she has to say. Can you give the two of us a minute alone?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rory asked with a deep frown on her face. “You don’t owe her anything if you aren’t comfortable. We can just take you home or back to my place. Maybe get some ice cream and put on a sad movie.”

“I know, but I think I need to do this or I’ll always wonder what might have been. Besides, I might not owe her, but I owe it to myself.”

Rory sighed. “Alright, we’ll be over by my car. If you need anything, you can just yell for us, yeah?”

She nodded. “Thank you, but I think I can handle it.”

“Okay.” The pair shot her one last look before they walked away, leaving the couple alone—if they could even still be called that.

“So?” Leilani said when Adaze hadn’t said anything after a few minutes. She crossed her arms. “You said something about giving me an explanation. Then go on, explain what the hell happened.”

“Right, yeah.” She swallowed. “I want to start by saying I’m sorry. I was so shocked when I saw Veronica in the parking lot, I snapped and I took it out on you. That wasn’t right and I’m so sorry.”

“You should be,” Leilani crossed her arms. “The second I tried to talk to you, you ran off. You didn’t tell me what was going on or why you were upset. I didn’t even know if you were coming back. I didn’t like that. You could have just told me you needed a minute. I would have understood.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just left like that. If I could, I would go back in time and stop myself. I don’t know that I could have had a conversation at that point, but I could have at least told you I needed some time to myself.”

“I’d have understood if you’d told me that, you know? I would have given you space until you were ready to talk.”

“I know. I would understand if you didn’t forgive me.”

Leilani let out a long breath. Part of her wanted to, but she needed more. She needed to know that they were on the same page. That they could make it work. “That’s an apology. It isn’t an explanation.”

“You’re right. I just—I saw Veronica, my ex-wife, and I just panicked. I can’t explain what was going through my head. All I knew was I felt like I needed to protect myself, and the only way I could think to do that was to get away.”

Leilani took a deep breath. “I don’t really know what to say to that.”

“I don’t know what I hope you’d say to that. All I know is I care about you, and I really hope you can give me another chance.”

“I want to. I really want to. But I can’t just do it off of this. I just need you to give me a reason.”

Adaze took a deep breath. She held out her hands and Leilani took them, a cautious smile coming onto her face.

“I need to say something,” Adaze said. “Maybe it isn’t the best time to say it. It definitely isn’t how I planned to say it, but I need to because if I don’t say it now, I might not get another chance.”

Leilani squeezed her hands. “Whatever it is, I’m listening. You have my full attention.”

“Here goes nothing.” She took a shaky breath. “I love you.”

Leilani gasped. Her heart thundered in her chest. “What? What did you just say?”

“I said I love you,” she said with a bit more confidence.

“Do you really mean that?”

“I do. I love you so much. I know we haven’t known each other long, but?—”

“I love you too.”

“We can make this work, Leilani. I promise you that. You are the most incredible woman I have ever met. I want to have forever with you. I know I have jealousy issues from what Veronica did. I will get counseling and deal with that. It isn’t fair to put that on you. Do you think we could go back to my place and talk?”

“Talk or talk?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Adaze found herself laughing despite it all. “Both? We do have a lot we need to figure out, but I also really want to be close to you.”