Page 200 of My Dark Prince
I considered it, hopping onto the edge of the breakfast table. “Okay. But only for as long as it takes to find a new place. And I’ll pay rent.”
“I’ll draw up a lease.”
This was adult-like. Mature. The closure I wished I’d gotten fifteen years ago. We could do this. Go our separate ways. Maybe in a few years, when the dust settled and I could look at him without wanting to weep, we might even be friends again.
You’ll survive, I tried to convince myself.You’ll look back on this moment one day and thank yourself for putting yourself first.
“It feels like the sky is falling,” I confessed.
“You’re strong enough to hold it up,” he told me, his words proud but his eyes sad.
“Thank you.”
For teaching me how to fly.
For helping me regain my wings.
For letting me go.
He rested his chin on my knee, peering up at me from his seat. “You’ll be okay, won’t you?”
“We both will,” I assured him. And because I couldn’t help myself, I traced a fingertip down the bridge of his nose. “You gave me wings, my dark tragic prince.”
Before I could second guess myself, I slid off the table and headed for the stairs to pack my things. I paused at the base of the stairs, turning to face him. His eyes hadn’t budged from me.
Oliver stared back at me but didn’t speak. A wave of confessions found their way to the tip of my tongue.
I love you.
I will always love you.
I will only ever love you.
Instead, I settled for a simple, “Oliver?”
“Cuddlebug.”
I strode back to him, slid off the engagement ring, and pressed it into his palm, curling his fingers around it. “You will make an amazing husband one day.”
Just not mine.
He shot up from his seat, startling me. “Bullshit.”
I backed away as he stalked to me, step by deliberate step. “Excuse me?”
Another step.
And another.
My back hit the wall. Oliver planted a hand on each side of my face, caging me in. Our heavy breaths tangled together, his eyes dark and unrelenting.
He dipped his head, bringing his lips to the shell of my ear. “If I don’t marry you – and that’s a big fuckingif– I’ll make the worst husband in the entire world. Because I’ll spend every second of every minute thinking about you. When I make her laugh, it’s your giggles I’ll hear. When I kiss her, it’s your lips I’ll feel. And when I slide deep inside her, it’s your pussy I’ll imagine, dripping wet around my cock. You’ve ruined me, Briar. Completely and utterly destroyed me for every other woman on this planet. It’s you or nothing.”
Chapter Ninety
Briar
Briar Auer:The engagement is off.
