Page 82 of The Has-Been

“I haven’t been with anyone either,” I admit sheepishly.

She grins, tapping my shoulder. “Oh, I know.”

“Is it that obvious?” I whisper, my head resting back on the seat as I look at her. And for some reason, I don’t care if she sees me like this—if she knows I’m still in love with her.

Regardless of whether or not she feels the same.

Her cheeks are tinged pink, a smile lining her every feature.

She looks the exact image that’s ingrained in my mind. The picture of the woman I couldn’t get out of my head over the last year. But instead of a hazy memory, she’s real.

And she’s sitting right next to me.

My fingers dance over the steering wheel.

A sense of urgency passes over me, and I don’t allow myself a second to guess as I start to crawl out of my Jeep.

“What are you doing?” Aubrey asks, her face still glowing.

I hesitate for a second, my hand hovering over the door handle. But I’m tired of running away from the past. I know Jasmine, my therapist, wanted me to put the past behind me and move forward, and I have.

Aubrey Vaughn, though, is something I can’t put in the past.

A part of me will never be able to move forward without her. And if last night was any indication, then a part of her still wants me too.

And I’ll be damned if she doesn’t know the truth—that the only thing I truly am sorry for is wasting the last year without her.

I walk around the front of the Jeep and feel a strange sense of comfort as I yank open her passenger door. Aubrey’s pupils are blown wide, trailing my every move.

“Liam, what are you doing?”

I don’t answer her question as I take one final deep breath and do what I was too afraid to last night. What I wanted to do so badly, but didn’t want to take advantage of her state, of whatever triggered her panic attack at the hospital.

I lean over her.

Her legs are pressed together.

Arms glued at her sides.

My chest hovers over her as I unclick her seatbelt and pull her free of it.

Sure, I could have done this in the car. But I don’t want anything in the way.

Nothing to separate us.

Never again.

I pull her out and close the door behind her. She takes a few steps back, leaning against my Jeep as I inch forward.

“The only thing I regret is not doing this the second I saw you again.” I manage softly.

Then I force myself closer, my lips carving a stiff, straight smile.

Aubrey takes a quick breath as I reach out. Her head thumps softly against the car. My fingers lace through her hair on each side of her head. My thumbs stroke her temples as her brown eyes flicker with astonishment.

My heart fills with a desire I thought was long dead. And for the first time, in a long time, I release my iron-clad restraint and cover her mouth with mine.

It isn’t soft or slow.