“I’ll wait for you,” Iwhimpered.
Tucking me into his side, Ryan leaned down to kiss me. “I can’t ask that ofyou.”
I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. “You’re not asking me to. I wantto.”
“Let’s just take this one day at a time, all right? I can’t leave you like Cam left all ofus.”
I could hear his sadness in his tone, could feel his heartbreak as his chest puffed out a bit and he sucked in a sharpbreath.
“I love you.” I heard myself say the words, but I couldn’t believe they had left my lips. I hadn’t realized until that moment how true they were. I truly, deeply lovedhim.
“Cass, I love you too. I am so sorry this is something I have to do.” He sniffled a little. “If you truly love me, you’llunderstand.”
* * *
“Ithinkyou should have dinner with him.” Emily sank down onto the couch next to me after handing me a glass ofwine.
After taking a long sip, I looked over to her. “How could anything good come of that, in anyway?”
She checked a text. “Sorry, Fletch is just letting me know he’s running late.” She put her hand on my forearm. “Because the moment you saw him, your heart started beatingagain.”
I pointed down at my engagement ring. “I’m getting married in two months. Kevin, my fiancé—ring anybells?”
Emily rolled her eyes. “You mean the second-round draftpick?”
It wasn’t a shock that Emily was giving me a hard time about Kevin. She’d never thought we made a good couple. Just because he had a tech job and was a little bit of a geek, everyone thought he was a wet blanket. “Kevin is a great guy, and he takes really good care ofme.”
“He’s so boring!” she complained. “Like tonight, where ishe?”
“He’s at home working on new coding software,” Ianswered.
“Do you even know what the hell thatmeans?”
I shook myhead.
“And what are we doing?” She held her glass in theair.
“We’re drinking and having dinner together.” I chewed on mylip.
“Look, Cass, I love you and I want you to be happy. I support you marrying Mr. Snoozefest if that is seriously what you want, but I also think you need some closure with Ryan before you can truly know you can commit to Kevin. You owe that toyourself.”
“I’ll think aboutit.”