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Caught up in his thoughts, he watched another tear escape her eye before she brushed it away “I knew you weren’t ready for a relationship I guess I accepted that I kept stuffing do I felt, so that I could be there for you” She gulped, clearing more tears off her face “I cared about you so much that I wanted to make you feel better and not be so sad So I turned into what you needed me to be”
Aidan blinked, thinking back to that tis for hi except his own pain “Cora—”
She raised her hand “Please let me finish” She hesitated and he stayed silent, so she added, “Part of the probleood tofriend A Doh”
When more tears rushed down her cheek too fast for her to brush away, Aidan gripped the bench tighter His fingers twitched to wipe her tears away, but he couldn’t begin to accept that this is what had been wrong with her
No, he didn’t want to deal hat that meant
She continued after a long sigh, “Through all this, I forgot the hope I once had that you’d lovewith, not the Doaze drowning in sadness “Now that I’ve experienced the real you, I can’t have you any other way I don’t know if that , but I can’t keep doing e’re doing”
He unclenched his fingers, resting his forear stomach Never had he dreaeon and out of it Nor did he want to believe that her tears on their ca trip weren’t about a problem She had cried because he had cared for her, not out of duty but out of want His vision blurred “What are we doing?”
“Loving each other, but pretending we’re not Living this act that e feel isn’t happening or that it doesn’t matter” She leaned up on her knees, and herher hand against his chest, she added, “This, in here, matters And now that I’ve seen all of you and seen theless”
Say so …
He knew he needed to talk to her about this, but his mind failed him All his Dom instincts flared to protect her, but, da her He had kept hiood reasons for that
Reasons he didn’t want to face
She’d portrayed happiness in their D/s relationship He had no idea she recognized his pain but sub it Fuck, she had taken care of him, and he hadn’t seen it
“When you touched ” Her nose scrunched “It was fake” Tears flooded her splotchy face “When ere ca, how you touched me then, I wanted that, Aidan I need that”
Staring at her, he didn’t see her beauty; he saw only her loving soul How had he not known she had taken care of him these past two years? What kind of Dos?
She wiped her tears, and her long exhale sounded rich with exhaustion “The saddest part in it all is I cared enough for you, I sacrificed et I didn’t look for another boyfriend because I waited for you I was so desperate for you that I beca half”