Page 114 of Bid For Me

I get to my feet and pace, trying to order my racing thoughts.

“I’ve been trying to fix everything, Elle,” he continues, his voice breaking, his hand coming up to wipe at his eyes. “I didn’t want to lie to you, but I didn’t know how to tell you the truthwithout losing you for good. I’ve fucked up more times than I can count, but this…this is me trying to make things right.”

I take a slow step toward him, my heart pounding so loud I think it might burst. The vulnerability in his eyes, the raw emotion in his face – this isn’t the Seb I thought I knew. This is something else. Something real.

“You handed your father over to the authorities?” I repeat, my voice barely a whisper, as if saying it aloud will somehow make it real.

Seb nods, his expression filled with regret but also something else. A quiet, desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, this will be enough to make me see him differently.

“Yeah,” he breathes out. “I did. And I’m sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me just like that, but I need you to know that I’d do anything to fix this. To fix us. To show you that I love you, that I trust you, and that I want nothing more than to make it right between us.”

His words hang in the air, a heavy, fragile confession that leaves me breathless. It’s too much, too fast. But I can’t deny the truth of it. He’s laid everything on the line, and for the first time, I believe him.

But there’s still a wall between us, a distance I can’t quite cross yet. I want to. I desperately want to, but the doubt that’s lingered in the back of my mind is slowly being replaced by something else.

I need more than just words.

I need action.

I need to see that this – what we have, what we could have – is real.

I take a slow, steadying breath, my hands still trembling at my sides. “So, what happens now?” I ask, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady.

Seb looks at me with something akin to desperation, but there’s a softness in his eyes now that wasn’t there before. “Now, I make sure that you know, once and for all, that you can trust me. That I’ll do whatever it takes to show you how much I love you.”

He steps closer, his hand reaching out as if to close the distance between us. I don’t pull away. But I’m still not sure. I’m teetering, right on the edge, and so desperate to justtrust.To take a leap of faith andtrybeing happy. With him.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness yet,” he says quietly, his voice thick with emotion. “But I am asking for a chance. Arealchance, to prove that I’m not just the man you thought I was. That I’m someone who can stand by you, fight for you, and never make the same mistakes again.”

I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.

But I do know one thing. For the first time in a long time, I believe him.

For a moment, we just stand there, inches apart, the air between us thick with unspoken words. I can feel the tension banding around my chest, my heartbeat speeding up with every second that passes. It’s as if the universe is holding its breath, waiting for me to make a decision, to either run or leap into the unknown.

I search his face, looking for any sign of deceit, any trace of the man I feared he was. But all I see is the raw vulnerability I never expected from him, the deep regret and the quiet hope that maybe – just maybe – I might finally trust him enough to let him in.

I swallow hard, the weight of my emotions pressing down on me. My mind is a whirlwind of thoughts – fear, doubt, longing – but one thing stands clear in the center of it all: Iwantto trust him. I want to believe in this. In us.

I step closer, my hands still trembling, and I don’t think, I just act. Before I can talk myself out of it, I reach up and slide my hand around the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

His breath hitches in surprise, and for a split second, I wonder if he’ll pull away. But he doesn’t. He lets me guide him, the tension between us crackling like an electric current.

When our lips meet, it’s soft at first – tentative, almost as if we’re both unsure of what this means, of what we’re trying to prove. But as the kiss deepens, as his arms wrap around me, pulling me flush against his chest, everything else falls away.

I kiss him like I’m putting everything on the line – my heart, my trust, my fears – and when he responds, his lips pressing harder against mine, his hands moving to cradle my face as if I might disappear, I know, deep down, that this is it. This is the moment where everything shifts.

I pull back slightly, my forehead resting against his, both of us breathing heavily, our hearts racing in unison.

“I’m scared,” I whisper, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “Scared of getting hurt. Scared of trusting you again.”

Seb’s grip on me tightens, his voice low and steady. “I know. But I’ll never hurt you again, Elle. I swear it.”

I close my eyes, my breath shaky, my chest tight with the weight of the decision I’m making. But there’s something in his voice, in the way he’s holding me, that makes me believe him. “I know. I love you, Bas. Always have.”

With that, I pull him back to me, my lips finding his again, this time with more urgency, more certainty. I feel his heart pounding beneath my fingertips, and I know, in this moment, that I’m finally ready to take that leap. To trust him. To let go of the past and fight for what we could have together.

We kiss like it’s the start of something new, something real. Because that’s exactly what this is.