Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
“I want to believe you, but you broke my trust, Mitch. I’m not sure if that is repairable.”
“Please don’t say that. Please don’t go to Baylor. We can start over again. I swear to God, I’ll work my ass off every day to prove to you how much I regret what I did. Let me show you how much I love you.”
She slowly shook her head. “You should have shown me by walking away from her.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“I need to go.”
“Wait!” I cried out as I pulled her back to me.
Cupping her face within my hands, I gently kissed her lips, silently begging her to open up to me. When my tongue ran along her lower lip, she let me in. My hand slipped behind her neck as I deepened the kiss.
I could feel the love between us still. It was there.
Michelle’s hands landed on my chest. She pulled lightly on my shirt before she pushed me away, breaking the kiss I had been longing for over the last two months.
A sob escaped from her soft lips. “I’m sorry.”
And, like that, she turned and left, leaving me standing there with an empty feeling in my chest.
With one single tear rolling down my face, I watched as she drove off.
I was pulled from my daze by someone squeezing my shoulder.
“Why don’t you come back inside, Mitch?”
“I’ve lost her forever, Wyatt. She’s never going to forgive me.” Turning to him, I shook my head. “I fucked up so bad. She’ll never trust me again.”
He shook his head. “Mitch, I saw the kiss. For one brief moment, she let you in. There’s hope. It might be a small amount of hope right now, but don’t give up on her if you truly love her.”
“I do love her. I never realized how much until it was too late.”
“It’s never too late. You have to fight for it. Fight for her. Dude, don’t give up.”
I let out a gruff laugh. “She’s moving to Waco. How in the hell am I supposed to fight for her when she is trying to distance herself from me?”
Wyatt slapped me on the back. “You’ll figure it all out, Mitch. You’ve got to give her time to heal and to learn to trust you again.”
Trust.
That was the key word.
By her own admission, Michelle had said she could never trust me again.
What can I do to prove to her that I made a terrible mistake and that I love her?
Following Wyatt, I glanced back down the street. “Time. I have a feeling, it’s against me.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
* * *
Skylar
WALKING INTO MY favorite coffee shop, Common Grounds, I quickly looked for a place to sit.
“Wow, it’s packed in here,” Michelle said with a big smile.
It had just been a few days since Michelle moved into my apartment in Waco. Wyatt hadn’t been all that pleased, but I’d assured him we would still have our privacy.
“You should see it when there is a band playing in here. It’s insane.”
With a chuckle, she replied, “I bet.”
Wyatt stood and waved at us.
I lifted my hand and waved. “Oh, good! Wyatt grabbed us a table.”
As we walked up to the counter, I caught a glimpse of Zeb Miller. He gave me a wave and then turned his attention to Michelle.
Trent, one of the baristas, smiled big and bright as he asked, “What can I get you two beautiful ladies?”
“Hey, Trent! This is Michelle. She transferred here from UT.”
With a quick nod and wink, Trent replied, “Smart girl. You want your normal?”
“Please.”
“One mocha mint madness coming up.”
Michelle raised her hand. “Oh! Make that two!”
Trent pointed to her and said, “I knew I liked you!”
After paying, we made our way over to the table. Wyatt was talking to a few football players. It was nice, having football season over finally. I felt like I had Wyatt back one hundred percent. I had one final left, and then we would all be heading back to Marble Falls tomorrow.
Standing, Wyatt pulled me in for a sweet kiss. “I missed you,” he whispered against my lips.
“I saw you two hours ago.”
He tapped my nose with his finger. “I still missed you.”
Michelle sat down and looked around the coffee shop. “It’s so adorable in here.”
Sitting next to Wyatt, I looked up to see Zeb walking toward us.
“Wyatt, Skylar, how are y’all doing?”
Wyatt smiled, but I knew he didn’t like Zeb.
“Doing good. You heading home for the holidays?” Wyatt asked as he took my hand in his.
Zeb glanced over to Michelle, who was still eyeballing the coffee shop. “Um, yeah, heading home.”
Wyatt and I looked at each other. Lifting his brows, Wyatt shrugged.
It was obvious that Zeb was taken by Michelle. How could he not be? Her blonde hair was pulled up into a sloppy bun on the top of her head. Those blue eyes were big and bright as she took everything and everyone in. When she finally turned and saw Zeb, she let a small smile spread across her face. To be honest, Zeb was a good-looking guy. His brown hair and gray eyes made it hard for any girl not to take a second look.