It felt like she’d stabbed me in the heart, and I could only stare at her.
“She’ll pick me up tomorrow,” she said.
“I don’t want you to leave,” I told her. “I want you to stay with me.”
She let out a small laugh, saying, “But what’s the point? We have nothing in common. We can’t be together. You’re…”
“I’m what?” I closed in on her, and she flinched. I felt like a fucking jackass. “I’m sorry, Sapphire. You should be able to do what you want.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “What do you want?”
“I want you,” I groaned. “Isn’t it fucking obvious? I’ve only ever wanted you.”
“But I’m not…” She looked away for a second, then took a step towards me. “I’m not the right girl for you.”
“You don’t know that.” I wanted to touch her. I wanted more than just that nighttime kiss. I wanted back inside her. I wanted to own her body. I wanted to claim her mind. “Please, give me a chance. And I don’t fucking say please often.”
“Feels weird?” she asked with a giggle, and I grinned at her.
“Very weird, Sapphire.”
She didn’t flinch.
“I like sleeping next to you,” she admitted, and looked down.
I wanted her eyes on mine, and I couldn’t resist making her look up, my fingers holding her chin.
“I don’t know anything about you,” she said.
“I want you to know,” I told her. “I want to tell you everything, pretty girl.”
“Will you?” Her lashes were so long, and lighter without mascara. She looked so young without makeup.
“Yeah,” I promised. “Everything. Right now.”
I took her hand and led her to the bedroom.
The window was open, and it let in fresh air as we got on the bed and stared at each other.
I lay on my side, and she pulled her knees up and leaned against the headboard.
“I want to know…” she started. “Who you are. Everything.”
“Ask a question,” I grinned. “Anything. Ask away.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“What do you do?”
I smiled. Already, a hard one.
“Mostly computer stuff,” I explained. “From home.”
“Like programming?”
“That too,” I nodded. “I freelance. So, whatever project I get, I pick up.”
“But that couldn’t have bought you this house,” she told me, smiling cheekily.
“You’re right,” I admitted. “It didn’t. The house was my grandpa’s.”
“Where is he?” Her voice was softer now.
“Six feet under.” My voice wasn’t as jokey as I wanted it to sound. It was sad, and a little bitter.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. Her hand brushed mine, and I wished I’d made more shitty comments, had a worse life, just so she’d touch me again. “Do you have other family?”
I thought about them all. Sisters, parents, all of them. The family I’d been running away from for years.
“I do,” I confessed. “I have a big family. But I don’t see them, ever.”
“Why? Do they live far away?” She looked curious.
“No,” I laughed. “Same city. Just… differences.”
“You should see them,” she said. “Not that I don’t get it. But you should. I’ll see my parents soon too. I need to tell them about…”
She looked away, and just like that, the spell was broken.
I saw the tears slip down her cheeks, and they were, surprisingly, the first tears I’d seen her cry since it all went down.
“Oh, pretty girl,” I groaned, and pulled her against me.
I felt her straining against my chest. Like she wanted to pull away, but couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t say a word about him, but she didn’t need to, either. I didn’t want to hear their story. I didn’t want to know she’d choose him over me.
And then her body started shaking, trembling and quaking in my arms. She hiccupped as she tried to catch her breath and I held her even closer.
“Sapphire, please,” I asked her. “Try to breathe, please.”
She still didn’t say a word, but the sobs started to really wrack her body. She cried loudly, she cried like a little girl, with sadness so all-encompassing I had no fucking idea how to handle her.
Her hot little mouth reached for mine, and I couldn’t resist her. I kissed her through the sobs, I kissed her through it all, and she tasted like love and tears.
“Please, Sapphire,” I begged. “Please calm down, I need you to…”
She wouldn’t let me speak. Just kissed me and let me drink her tears, and she kept crying so hard I thought she’d come apart in my arms.
I held her back and watched her, her face blotchy and her chest heaving.
“Please,” I said again. “Just deep breaths, Sapphire. Deep breaths for me. Okay? Can you do that?”
She shook her head no, now having a full-on panic attack. It felt like the only thing holding the pieces of her together were my arms.
“Sapphire,” I said gently. “Listen to me, listen to me, pretty girl. It’s going to be okay. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay right here, and we’ll make it through, and you’ll be perfectly okay. You just have to let it pass. Look at me, pretty girl, look into my eyes. Let me make it better, Sapph, please.”