“What? Cody, no. I wanted you with or without a college education. I loved you.”
He looks into my eyes. “You said you wanted to be a doctor. I wasn’t going to stand in your way.”
I clench the steering wheel. “Let me get this straight. Becauseyoucouldn’t go to college, you decidedIdeserved better?”
“Yes.”
“And it never occurred to you to tell me what was going on? That maybe I could have helped, or maybe I’d want some say in what happened to us?”
He closes his eyes. “I was afraid if I told you, I’d chicken out of doing what I knew had to be done. You should be with someone better than a broke and dumb guy like me.”
I jerk back.
Cody struggled in school; he always joked it was because he was dumb. But despite that, he had a B average and always knew the answers to any trivia game we ever played. All that time, I thought he was kidding.
“Dumb? Cody Anthony, you better not have just said that.”
He looks away. “School was always hard. I was able to maintain my grades, but it took a lot of work. Then I lost my chance at college, and I realized I had nothing to offer you. I enlisted, figuring it was my only shot at a future. And I was right, I found something I was good at.”
“I know school wasn’t easy. I was right there with you, remember? We studied together because we were in it together. But then you left, and I realized we weren’t in it together at all. I trusted you, and you broke my heart.”
He reaches for my hand again, but this time, I pull it back.
“No, don’t. I was devastated. I would have failed freshman year if it weren’t for Connie. She got me through. But after college… ” I shake my head at the memory, wishing I could rewrite history. “I met Joseph, and I was so desperate to feel loved again, I fell for his lies. All of them.”
Tears well in my eyes as all the hurt, and frustration comes back. “I married that narcissist because I was so desperate for whatwehad.” The tears fall, and I don’t try to stop them.
“I’m so sorry, Luce. If I could change it, I would. I’ve missed you every day since then. I’ve never loved another woman. You are the only woman I want.”
Want? As in present tense?
I wipe my eyes and turn toward him. “What did you just say?”
“I want you. I want us. Can we try again?”
Is he serious?
I can’t stop the laugh that breaks out of me, and I don’t miss his wince. But it doesn’t stop what I have to say. “You have got to bekidding. You gutted me and left me with no explanation, and now you want a second chance?”
“I know I have to earn your trust again. And I will do whatever it takes because yes, that’s what I want.”
This is too much. I feel like I’m suffocating. All I can smell is his scent, and my desire to lean in and kiss this man is too strong. I have to stop myself before I make the biggest mistake of my life.
I clutch the steering wheel and take a deep breath. “I don’t know. I need time to think.”
He runs his hand through his hair. “Okay. Can I have your phone?”
I frown.
“Trust me,” he says.
Against my better judgment, I pull my phone from my bag and hand it to him.
He types something, and then I hear another phone ring—his. Then he hands my phone back. “There. You have my number when you’re ready to talk.”
I stare at the screen. Then at Cody. All these years, he’s been inaccessible, a giant question mark. Now I can call him anytime?
“I’ll talk to you soon,” he says, and then exits my car.
