Page 49 (1/2)

He undressed and then slid into bed next to her He edged closer to her until her back was pressed to his chest and he curled an arhter to his body

She went rigid, tension boiling off her body

"We need to talk, baby"

She shook her head "No Not tonight I have nothing to say I’ret Isn’t that what you’ve basically said happens with you? That you say shit you don’tyou doto tiptoe around, never knowing how you’re going to take things or how you’ll react or what fucked-up way you’ll interpret sohed and kissed her shoulder, leaving his lips pressed against her skin

"You haven’t even eaten anything It’s early yet"

"I’ry," she said in a low voice "Please, Jace, just leaveGo eat or do whatever it is you want to do and let me work this out on my own"

He rolled away fro

"Not crazy about you lying here hurting because of ht wobble of her shoulders and he cursed silently She was fucking crying And she wanted to be left alone Didn’t want to be comforted Didn’t want his ar her

He squeezed his eyes shut Yeah, he’d fucked up royally Even worse than the last ti this shit?

How could he even go into work to the ht?

He couldn’t live like this And he knew she couldn’t either He was destroying her with his mistrust And the hell of it was, he did trust her

Maybe this was a product of their relationship only being a feeeks old These were issues all couples had to work out, weren’t they? He’d moved fast He knew that Most nore a little longer than he had But then, he’d always gone after what he wanted with single-minded deterard

Knowing he’d never go to sleep this early, he eased out of bed Her back was still to hiidly set for her to have fallen into sleep

"I’ to eat," he said softly "I’d love it if you joinedto eat in bed"

She sniffed ever so lightly and his heart clenched all over again Fuck it all She was still crying

He turned and strode out of the bedroo for equal airti her space to work things out her oay As long as she did it here in his apartment, in his space, in his bed, he could deal He’d said he trusted her It was time to show her he meant that

Heto do than because he was hungry He remembered when Gabe had fucked up so badly with Mia, she’d told hi her back that he’d have to crawl And Gabe had crawled He’d huet Mia back

Jace hadn’t really gotten it at the ti a bit too dramatic, but now he realized the desperation GabeJace would crawl He’d do whatever it took to get Bethany to stay

After hours of churning over every word he wanted to say, he went back into the bedrooh to darken the roo, but what pained him more was the fact that even in sleep, she softly hiccupped, a sign that she’d cried for quite so her sweet scent He buried his face in her hair and curled his arainst his body

Sleep was a long ti, and when it finally did, it was filled with haunting dreaht

Bethany ca over her shoulder She winced when her eyes opened and pain instantly stabbed through her head Her eyes were puffy and swollen Her throat was scratchy and achy froht before

"Baby, wake up for me, please"

Jace’s soft voice drifted over her ears and she closed her eyes again as a flood of pain rocketed through her all over again

"Bethany, I need you to look at ly she turned halfway to her back so she could aze He winced when he saw her face She must really look bad based on his reaction

He stroked his fingers over her face and then he leaned in to kiss her

"Baby, I knohat I did rong It wasn’t fair to you or to Ash I’ve ht with you"

He went silent a est his words Then he continued on

"I have to go into the office thisisto go into the office, ht up with Gabe and Ash, and then I’ home so we can work this out"

She nodded, her throat too raw to speak

"I want you to rest, take it easy today," he said gently "When I get ho to eat Spend the evening together, just you and I"

"Okay," she said hoarsely

She rolled back to her side as he ain, drifting back into the dark void

Her thoughts were chaotic She’d thought about the situation all night Only in the hour before dawn had she been able to drift off fully

The proble she could do to fix the issue between her and Jace He either trusted her or he didn’t There was no e it It was on hi she did or said would ever change that fact

She had no doubt that he was truly regretful for the way things had gone down the prior evening But that didn’t mean he trusted her, and it didn’t ain

She listened as he quietly readied hio, he came back over to the bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead He lingered there a er, as if he was reluctant to leave

A part of her didn’t want hio Wanted him to stay and hold her so she could pretend this issue didn’t exist between them The other part wanted hih her s

Finally he dreay after s the hair from her face and forehead Then his footsteps sounded and retreated froer hear him