Relief filled his expression and he marched to me. I was powerless to stop my arms from going around him as we held onto each other. He pressed his face to my neck, the way that he liked to and held on tight, breathing me in.
“Thank God,” he said against my collar. “I thought it was me. That you wanted to end this.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
At my lack of denial, he pulled back and fixed me with an anguished glare.
“Ryan. What are you thinking?Tell me.”
“It's whatyousaid. At the hospital. I can't stop thinking about it.”
He frowned.
“What? What did I say?”
“That you went straight from spending years being committed to Melissa, into a relationship with me.”
“So?” he demanded. “The timing might not have been right, but that doesn't mean thatwe'rewrong.”
“I know Kamran,” I whispered, stroking back his hair. “But I fooled myself into thinking it was to comfort you and to be there for you, but it wasn’t. It was to get what I wanted. Stolen time with the man that I’m in love with.”
“And what's so wrong about that?” he asked.
I shook my head resolutely. I had already made my decision. I couldn't be swayed so easily.
“I wasn’t doing what’s best for you and now I want to.Please.”
I tried to blink back the tears but they did the opposite of what I wanted and went down my cheeks instead.
Kamran's hands landed on my cheeks, thumbs stroking them back. His forehead rested on mine.
“What I want is to be with you,” he insisted softly. “You know that, right?”
I nodded, heart racing because it did feel so wrong to push away the man I loved when he loved me back, but here I was and this idea just wouldn't go away. And I knew it was the right thing to do.
“Kamran,” I whispered. “I need you to go. To live your life without owing anyone anything. You've never had that and youdeserveit.”
“But that's not what I want,” he argued. “I wantyou.”
“I just don’t want you to have any regrets. Please try to understand. While you’re going through this hard time, I’ll be around to help you with whatever you need, be that moving, drinks with the guys, help with paperwork,anything, but we have to stop this relationship. You need to be single and decide if this is really for you.”
He shook his head, frown intensifying.
“But what if I come back and you've already moved on with someone else?”
I shut my eyes.
“All these years, my feelings for you never even wavered. I doubt they’re about to start now.”
He pulled back just far enough to look at me properly and then his lips pursed into a tight, thin line.
“How much time?” he suddenly asked, voice hard.
“What?”
“How much time do you need for me to prove myself?”
I spluttered.
