Page 27 of The Lie That Stole Christmas

“It was,” she argued.“You just made it complicated.”

Silence descended again, this time thick with everything they still hadn’t said.

“I wasn’t enough for you,” he muttered, needing her to understand.He was never meant to be with her, never meant to experience her softness beneath his fingertips, her cries of pleasure as he entered her.

Her head snapped toward him.“Don’t you dare rewrite this like that.”

“You wanted more than I could give you.”

“I never wanted shit from you other than your love, but apparently even that was too much to ask for.”

“That’s all I could give you, and I did, which is why I didn’t come after you.Why I didn’t show up on your doorstep, expecting you to pay my way.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.You could have gotten a job.You just didn’t want to.It was safer to stay here and act like I left you.”

“I would have held you back.”

“You didn’t get to decide that for me.”

“No, but I made it so you didn’t have to because you and I both know you would have woken up one day and you would have resented me.For choosing me over everything else you could’ve had.”

“So you chose for me, and look at us now.Both alone and unable to move on.By not wanting to hold me back, that’s exactly what you did.”

“You’re successful, made a name for yourself.”

“And I go to bed alone every night because no matter how many dates I have been on, how many men I have let into my bed, none of them are you.”

He swallowed at the mention of other men, an unexpected jealous rage rising inside him.He knew letting her go was the best thing he could do for her, but he refused to think that by letting her go, she’d fall into bed with another man.He wasn’t naive; deep down, he knew it was inevitable, but that didn’t mean he had to think about it.

“I wanted a life with you.”She stabbed her finger into his chest.“All I got was false hope.For weeks.Months.Every time there was a knock on my door, every time my phone buzzed… I thought it was you.Hopedit was you.Until one day I realized you really meant goodbye.”

“I should’ve come to you, but we’re here now.”He rested his thumb beneath her chin, his finger running along the curve of her jaw.“Tell me I’m too late, and I’ll walk away, pretend like this conversation never happened.”

Her breath hitched, her shoulders trembling as she exhaled.She blinked up, locking her gaze with his.Her gray irises brimming with hope and new beginnings.Her eyelids slid shut, and when she opened them again, any hope was gone.

“I don’t think I could survive wanting you like that again.”

His hand moved along her jaw.“Ashley—”

She caught his wrist before he could fully cup her face.“Don’t.”She didn’t push him away, but she didn’t pull him close either.

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t let us end up in the same place.”

“What if it’s different this time?”

“Different how?When these nine days are up, I am leaving Winterridge and going back to New York.Are you going to follow me this time?”

He stood there, staring at the woman who had been his dream girl since the first time he met her at only five years old.Every stage of their lives, she’d been there, more beautiful than ever, stronger, more confident, full of kindness.

He didn’t follow her to New York last time, partially because he couldn’t be everything that she needed, but also for reasons she didn’t know.

Reasons that had his hand falling from her grasp.

Reasons that led him to turn around and walk away from her without another word.

Walking away from her had felt like losing everything…