He dropped his gaze and inhaled another deep breath. “Like I said, it’s not you. You deserve to be with someone who doesn’t carry this kind of baggage—”
“We all have baggage, Dex. Each and every one of us. I’m happy to carry it with you.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me again, his jaw still tense. “I’m sorry, Sicily. I really am. I’m not ready. If I were ready, then this wouldn’t bother me. But it does bother me…deeply. Relationships obviously work for some people, but I’m not one of the people.”
Tears flooded my eyes and dripped down my cheeks, and I didn’t have the strength or care to give a damn about it. I had my baggage too. I was wounded too. And now I’d been destroyed another time, and this hurt far more than all the other guys combined. “You have no idea…how much you’ve hurt me.”
He closed his eyes and winced in pain.
“But I’m not afraid to try again…someday. With a guy who deserves me. I never thought I would be better than Dex Hamilton at anything, but it looks like I have more courage, more bravery, more guts than you ever will.” With as much strength as I could muster, I turned around and strutted to the elevator, stabbing my finger against the button so the elevator would rise as soon as possible.
Luck was on my side because the doors immediately opened.
I stepped inside, jabbed another button, and then looked through the open doors to the lobby.
Dex was right where I left him, his chin still tilted to the floor, his eyes shut, like he couldn’t stand to look at me—or more likely, stand to see me look at him.