Page 67 of Fool Me Twice
But what? If I told her the truth, surely she would hate me for keeping the secret for so long. It seemed the only way to keep her was to keep my mouth shut.
The reality burned a hole in my chest. This wasn’t the man I wanted to be, but apparently I’d turned into him when I hadn’t been paying attention.
I focused on walking and taking in the scenery as we hiked, but it did little good. The whole in my chest only grew and grew, until it threatened to consume me.
At the top, Georgia stretched her arms to the sky, closed her eyes, and soaked in the sunshine. “Hello, Rio!”
Sunlight reflected off her golden hair, and her skin glowed in the late morning. She looked like an angel coming down to Earth.
How had I gotten so lucky? Surely, I didn’t deserve this.
Opening her eyes, she turned to me and took my hands. “I can’t believe I’m here again. With you.”
“I cannot believe it either.” I ran my knuckles down her cheek.
God, I wanted to give her everything good in the world. I wanted to fulfill each and every one of her dreams, one by one. But was I up to the task? How could I do any of that if I could not even be honest with her first?
She turned her face to the side and kissed my hand. “How are you doing since… yesterday?”
I tensed, knowing exactly what she meant. I didn’t talk about my brother often. In fact, I usually made a point to not bring him up at all.
Back in my hometown, though, with Georgia by my side, something happened. The walls came down despite my best efforts to keep them up, and all I had been able to do was stand there and watch them crumble.
“I feel better,” I said. “Thank you for listening.”
She stepped closer, our hips nestling together. “Thank you for sharing. I want you to know something.”
I took a deep breath. This was it. I just needed to blurt it out, before things went any further.
“This isn’t a fling to me,” she said. “So if that’s what you’re looking for, then I need to bow out.”
My chest expanded to the edges of the universe, and I suddenly wanted to cry from joy. “It is not a fling to me, either.”
The mere thought that we could ever be anything close to a fling filled me with pain. Taking hold of Georgia’s face, I dropped my forehead to hers.
“You are precious, Georgia,” I whispered. “The most precious thing I have ever come across.”
Stay with me.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I held back. This new chapter of our relationship had only just begun, and what did I really have to offer her yet? I wasn’t the man she deserved.
Aching, I drew back. I could become that man, though. Come clean and then wait for the cards to fall wherever they would. If she chose to leave me, there was nothing I could do about it.
“This feels right,” she whispered.
I nodded, a bittersweet ache twisting its way through me.
“What’s in the backpack?” She nodded at it.
“Lunch. Would you like some?”
“Of course. Let’s find a shady spot.” Taking my hand, she pulled me to the trees.
Just like that, the confession I’d prepared scattered to the wind. Why spoil the beautiful moment we were having?
Later. I would tell her later.
CHAPTER19