I grab my jeans off the floor and pull them on. Each button on the fly harder than the last one to fasten. Every button done means another second closer to walking away from her again.
She deserves better.
She deserves more.
A man who can be there every night for her. A man who is worthy of her love. A man who won’t disappoint her.
I pull my shirt over my head and then touch the bracelet I still wear. The piece of her I’ve kept with me all these years.
Four years is a long fucking time to wonder if what we had was real.
Now I know.
It was.
And as I stand here and stare at her, every reason I ran before comes back with a vengeance and then some.
I have to go.
It’s for the best.
I lean over and press a kiss to her temple. It’s her lips I really want—one last taste of the only real thing I’ve ever had in my life—but I can’t risk waking her. If I do, the next steps I have to make will be even harder.
“Goodbye, Shug,” I murmur against her skin and breathe her in one last time.
My throat feels like it’s collapsing as I walk the few feet to the door. One last look over my shoulder at my teenage fantasy and my adult downfall.
It’s her.
Hasn’t it always been her?
I left before because I loved her and thought I wasn’t enough for her.
I leave now because I know I love her, and I’m still not good enough for her.
“I love you. I always have.”
The pain hits the second I shut the door at my back.
