“So you’re punishing me?” I closed the distance between us.
She backed up, her crutches squeaking in her haste. “No, I’m merely protecting myself from a future I can’t survive.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“It’s the truth.”
“But I’m in love with you. How many fucking times do I need to tell you?”
The crunch of tyres on gravel outside made my heart race with sickness. Her dad must’ve been parked at Aunt Cassie’s house to get here so fast.
I’d run out of time.
I’d run out of hope.
My spine rolled even as I fought the urge to grab her. To kiss her again. To drag her back to my bed.
Graham knocked on my door, wrenching Hope’s gaze to it.
I stepped in front of her. “Don’t go. Let me prove to you. Let me show you that I’ll never hurt you again.” Grabbing her shoulders, I longed to wipe away the tear rolling down her cheek. “I promised I’d never make you cry again. These tears are your doing.”
She shifted in my hold, trying to hide from my touch, but I didn’t let her. I merely moved with her, digging my fingertips into her delicate body, cupping a hand around the nape of the woman I loved with all my heart. “Hope, please—”
My front door opened. Graham stepped uninvited into my home.
Goddammit, I should really lock my door.
He froze, taking in the scene before him. His daughter with crutches, cast, and bruises, and a boy who’d broken her heart so many times half-naked before her.
“Hope?” He crept forward, his eyes narrowing on mine. “What’s going on?”
Hope shook her head, doing her best to back away. “Nothing. I was just saying goodbye.”
I let her go, turning to face Graham.
My skin prickled at being mostly naked. I felt vulnerable and bare and not at all worthy, but this was my one chance. My last shot at keeping the girl I needed. “I don’t want her to go.”
Graham cocked his head. “I don’t think you have a choice in the matter.”
“But…I love her. With all my sorry excuse of a heart.”
Hope sucked in a breath as I moved away from her. I went to her father. I did the honourable thing and told the guardian of the girl I wanted more than anything the truth. Perhaps he would believe me. “I’ve hurt your daughter, sir. I know that. I know I have a lot to make amends on. I’ve been mean and idiotic and downright awful, but…I love her.” I spread my hands. “I can’t let her walk out that door because I know I’ll never see her again and that just can’t happen.”
Graham crossed his arms. “If Hope wants to leave, then you won’t stop her.”
“And if she wants to stay. Will you let her?”
He looked past me to his daughter. “Hope is an adult. She can make her own decisions.”
I studied him. I looked past my childish grudge about him playing my father. I put aside my grievances of his intrusion on our world, and I accepted him as a man. Just a man…like me. One who’d sinned and made mistakes and I knew what I had to do.
“You’re a good man, Mr. Murphy. I’m sorry I didn’t see that till now.”
He froze.
“I hope to be as good a father as you are someday.” My voice rasped with sincerity. “That’s the honest to God truth.”
Hope whimpered behind me, sending shivers down my back.
I smiled softly as I turned to face her again.
I blocked out her father. I went to the most important person in my world, and with my heart aching and stomach in knots, I sank to my knee before her.
The air in the room vanished.
Graham cleared his throat. Hope moaned under her breath, and I bowed at the feet of someone who I would love until my dying day. Breath was hard to come by as my heart galloped in terror and acceptance.
“Hope Jacinta Murphy.”
She shook her head, biting her lip. “Jake…what are you doing?”
“Hush.” I captured her hand, bringing her knuckles to my lips. “Let me do this before I have another panic attack.”
She wobbled in place.
I sucked in a gulp, looking into her gorgeous green eyes. “If you won’t take me as your friend and you refuse to take me as your lover, I have only one option available.”
Goosebumps exploded over my skin as she moaned again. “Jacob…stop.”
I clutched her fingers tighter. “I love you, Hope. I don’t care how many times I have to say it to make you believe me. I’ll say it every hour of every day for the rest of our lives if I have to. In fact, I’ll do that anyway. Just because you deserve to be told you are loved. You are loved so fucking much with all my heart. And I will continue to love you forever. I will never stop. You have my utmost vow. I will love you until you are old and grey. I will love you when we bicker and argue, and I will love you even past death. I know I’ve hurt you. I’ve broken your trust and been a jackass for years. I’ve been the worst kind of friend to you while you’ve been the best kind to me. But…you died yesterday. And I wanted to die, too. The thought of you gone didn’t just butcher me; it stole the very essence of who I am. If you had died, I know I wouldn’t be the same man. I would be changed. Irrevocably. Just like you would be changed if I died. We’re already bound in every way that matters.”