Page 74 of Forever Mine
“I care about you, too.As a friend. Please don’t do this.”
“Do what?” he snaps.
I feel my heart begin to pound like it did last night.Breathe. Just breathe. You’re okay.
“Ruin our friendship.”
Like a switch being flipped, he morphs from frustration to desperation. “Give me a chance to show you how good we could be together.”
No. It’s a simple, two-letter word. How many times do I have to keep saying it?
“I can’t.”
David doesn’t relent. “I see how you look at me. You’re attracted to me. Don’t deny it.”
David is gorgeous. And yes, I’ve checked him out many times, but that doesn’t mean I want to break up with Julien to be with him instead.
“See?” he says, as if my silence proves his point.
“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
Spinning around, he accordions his fingers and braces his hands on the back of his neck before turning back toward me. “It’s been a year, and my feelings haven’t changed. I want more, Elijah. I want you. I’m in love with you.”
Hearing him say it out loud punches a hole through my chest.
“But I’m not in love with you.” I don’t know how much clearer I can be.
“You could be,” he argues, continuing to be obdurate and not listen to a word I’m saying.
It’s as if he’s determined not to hear me.
Feeling like I have no other recourse, I throw his past up in his face. “I can’t be a replacement for Daimon.”
Daimon’s suicide messed David up, and he’s been struggling with the aftermath of that loss since high school. David even mentioned how much I remind him of his ex-boyfriend.
David’s face contorts, and before I can react, he grabs me, pulling me closer, not caring that he’s causing a scene that’s garnering even more interested attention.
“Don’t marry him. Please give us a chance, blondie. That’s all I’m asking.”
“David, stop.” I try to pull away, but his grip tightens.
I expect the panic to come like it did last night and am surprised when it doesn’t.
“Get your fucking hands off him before I remove them myself.”
Oh shit. Not good. So not good.
Fallon appears out of nowhere. David has no other choice but to release me when he forces himself between us.
“If you ever put your hands on Elijah again, you’ll regret it.”
David is physically more muscular than Fallon, but in a fight, David would lose, and he knows it. Fallon’s reputation is what it is for a reason. You fuck with him or piss him off, and bad things happen to you.
“We were just talking.”
“And the conversation is over. Let’s go,” Fallon says to me, his tone leaving no room for argument as he drags me away.
Chapter Twenty-One
