Page 16 (1/2)

“I accept you” Again I had to rein myself in so that I didn’t alarm her

“I’h what you did I know there’s nothing I can say or do to change as But as hard and as ugly as your life is right now, I promise you I can make it better”

I knelt at her feet and took her little hands indown her cheeks

“I know you have no reason to believe h, I can only iine your disdain for the opposite sex, but if you never believe anything else in your life, trust this”

How the fuck do I say this shit without sounding like a sh sleazeball It was too soon after the attack for her to be open to what I was offering She needed ive her But now she’d gone and forced my hand

She didn’t know, though, thathere tonight, or any other night, without ive that would o

“You wanted to knohy Why I care? Why your life matters to me? I’ll tell you Look at me” I waited for her teary eyes to lift to et off my chest for the last feeeks

“There’s so inside of me…for you” I sounded like a complete ass, but I had no idea how to put this shit into words other than to just coht out and say it

I’ve never told a woman that I love her, never even felt it With Charlotte, it was one of those things where we just fell into a relationship because it’s what everyone else expected

She cauess, which meant her family had money as mine did, which was a fucked up reason to marry someone when you think about it

But she was the kind of girl mom would appreciate at her dinner table It wasn’t fair to her that after two years, I’d screwed her over, but it would be even worse if I’d gone through with the e only to have my affections lay elsewhere