But all that was about to change.
Scooting closer, Audrey snuggled close to Tate’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. She didn’t want to forget this. She knew she wouldn’t, but just in case, she memorized the way his arm lay across her hip while the other was above her head, tangled in her hair. She took in his plump lips, and the way they parted when he took a deep breath. She smiled when she noticed his long eyelashes dusting the top of his cheeks, and the way his hair went in every direction imaginable. He was gorgeous, sweet, and the most amazing lover ever, but she should never have let it go as far as she had without telling him. He deserved to know. She should have stopped him when he asked if he could make love to her. But she couldn’t. She wanted him just as much, and even though she didn’t regret it, she knew she had done wrong.
She wanted nothing more than to be normal. To have a normal body, to be able to give Tate everything in the world—the family they both dreamed about—just so she could keep him forever. But Prince Charming wouldn’t want a defective Cinderella.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched him stir under her intense gaze. When his eyes fluttered open and they met hers, his face broke into a sleepy grin while her heart broke in a billion pieces. Tate’s hand left her hip, cupping her cheek before dusting her lips with soft, slow kisses. When he pulled back and she looked up at him with watery eyes, his brow creased and he said, “I expected a grin this morning, not sad eyes. What’s wrong?”
Audrey swallowed past the lump in her throat before she said, “I messed up.”
“No! Fuck that,” he said before she could go on. Upset, he jumped out of bed, naked. “You are letting that piece of shit get in your head and you are letting him win. Don’t do this, don’t hurt us. We are good together. If you didn’t know that before, you have to know that now. You have to, especially after last night.”
She did, but it didn’t matter.
“It doesn’t matter if we are or not, Tate. How can I be selfish and lead you on when nothing will ever work between us?”
“Why would you think that? What the fuck have I done?” he yelled. “I have done everything I know to make you feel special, to make you believe I have true feelings for you. What am I doing that isn’t right?”
Tears pooled in her eyes and she begged herself not to let them fall. When one did, she shook her head, looking down. “It isn’t you, Tate, it’s me.”
“Fuck that,” he sneered, moving through the room, gathering his clothes. “I wasn’t joking or trying to get in your pants when I said I can’t be friends with you, Audrey. I can’t. I care too much; I want you too much to do that. I deserve better, and so do you, so stop with this charade. Stop listening to this dick who is only trying to hurt you.” She watched as he threw his shirt on, then ran his fingers through his hair, his hands pausing at the top of his head. “What are you going to do, Audrey? Be with dickheads and assholes while working a job you hate for the rest of your life? Are you always going to wish for more?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
He shook his head again, looking away as Audrey crumbled inside. She wanted to run up to him, hold him, tell him she didn’t mean any of it, but she couldn’t.
“You are going to let me leave, aren’t you?”
“I care about you too much to do this to you,” she said as the tears started to fall.
“No, don’t cry, you don’t get to cry! I’m not the one breaking your heart! You’re breaking mine!” he yelled. “You are throwing away something that could be real, that could be everything you want. What I want!”
“Tate, please,” Audrey whispered, “please don’t hate me, just know that I am doing this for you.”