My eyes flick back to him. “No?”
He shakes his head, gaze steady on mine. “Those six months we were married were some of the best months of my life.”
I blink, thrown. “Have you gone soft, Mr. Miller?”
He chuckles, low. “Maybe.”
The smile fades and he straightens, as if remembering something. “Actually, I promised myself that when I saw you in person again, I’d tell you. I’m not leaving it unsaid this time.”
I swallow hard.
“Worth—”
“No, let me.” He holds up a hand. “I’m not telling you this to make you stay, or to make you feel guilty, or to mess with the freedom you carved out for yourself. I’m telling you because I’d rather you walk away knowing it than not being aware of how I feel.” He takes a deep breath.
“I love you, Mya.”
My heart kicks in my chest.
“I fell in love with you somewhere in the midst of our pretending. You walked into my house and made it a home so fast I didn’t even realize it had been missing something. You made me enjoy life again.”
My eyes burn. I grip the edge of my napkin so I don’t reach for him.
“You made me a better dad.” Worth’s eyes are shining now too. “You made me show up softer. You made me listen to Bri more. I didn’t realize I’d been doing things on autopilot until you came in and started loving her like she was yours.”
I blink, and tears slide down my cheeks.
“And you made me a better man,” he adds, voice a little rough. “Not because you asked me to change. Because I wanted to be the kind of man you didn’t want to run from.”
God.
Worth takes a steadying breath. “Since you’ve been gone, the house hasn’t felt like home. Bri and I are good, we always are. But it felt fuller with you. Complete. That’s what you were. You were the missing piece to our puzzle.”
I press my lips together to keep a sound in. My heart is hammering so hard I can hear it in my ears. This is everything I wanted him to say months ago. Everything I told myself I’d never get. Everything I was scared to hear, because once it’s spoken, you can’t pretend anymore that it was just sex and an arrangement.
“I’m not asking you for anything right now,” he says softly, leaning in a little more. “I just didn’t want to miss the chance to tell you. Because last time, I kept waiting for the perfect moment and we got blown up before I could.”
I wipe under one eye, my laugh a little watery. “You’re really not helping me keep my walls up here.”
“Good,” Worth says, eyes warm. “They were never that high with me, anyway.”
Inside me, there’s a war.I’m still scared—because once I say it, it’s real. Once I say it, I’ll have to let myself be happy, and happiness is what I’m terrified of losing.
But looking at Worth now, I realize what my mom said was right.
I didn’t run because it wasn’t real.
I ran because itwas.
And I love Worth so much it hurts.
Worth
I didn’t realize how tight I’d been holding everything in until I said the words.
The second they were out, something in my chest loosened as if I’d been walking around with a fist around my ribcage.
And now I’m watching Mya like a hawk; I have no idea how she’s going to take it.