I Could Read Minds But Never His Sincere Love Chapter 11

I Could Read Minds But Never His Sincere Love Chapter 11

He’d gone all puffed up with jealousy, and it had me laughing until my sides ached.

“You’re such a child.”

“And you! Who hands their ex’s lawsuit to their current boyfriend? Do I look like I need the money?”

He gave me a wounded look. I wrapped my arms around him fast.

“Okay, okay, don’t be mad. I threw it out there. How was I supposed to know he’d say yes?”

Julian could never stay mad at me for long. The anger drained right out of him.

“You know what? Forget it. I hate the guy, but this way he suffers and he pays for it. That’s actually pretty great.”

A grin broke across his face. He grabbed me and kissed me hard.

“There’s no next time!”

The trial ended. Julian won it for Miles.

I met him outside the courtroom and shoved a bouquet into his arms. “Congratulations, counselor.”

He took them, pulled me in, and kissed me right there without caring who saw. “You’re too good to me.”

Miles stood off to the side, completely rigid. When we turned to leave, he lunged forward and grabbed my arm.

—

“Hazel, can we talk?”

I shook him off and kept walking. He stepped right in front of me.

“Hazel! Please. Give me half a day. That’s it, half a day.”

Miles had been proud and cold his entire life. I’d never once seen him beg.

His eyes were red, and he wasn’t going to back down.

I looked at Julian. He understood, and he tugged me back long enough to lay down the ground rules.

“He doesn’t touch you. Keep your distance. And don’t stay out late.”

Miles walked me across half the city. His mind was completely silent the whole way, because his mouth never stopped running.

“Hazel, remember this place? We came here all the time as kids. You refused to go down the big slide. You’d just cry until I carried you down.”

“Hazel, look, we’re still on the alumni board. Your picture’s right next to mine. You nearly studied yourself into the ground for that.”

“Hazel, this lawn. A girl confessed her feelings to me right here, and when I took her letter, you cried so hard you couldn’t eat for days.”

The sky was darkening. I checked the time and cut him off.

“That’s enough. I need to go. I don’t have time to walk down memory lane with you.”

“Hazel…”

—

His actual voice and his inner thoughts overlapped perfectly.

[Hazel, you used to love me so much. Have you forgotten?]

“I haven’t forgotten, Miles. I remember exactly how much I loved you, better than you ever did.”

He froze. The realization hit him, and his voice shook.

“You… you can hear me? Now?”

“I could hear you when you wanted Clara, too.”

“I don’t want her, I…”

“You don’t want me either.”

I cut him off, taking two steps back to put space between us.

“You just can’t stand that my whole life doesn’t revolve around you anymore.”

His mouth opened and closed. When he finally spoke, his answer was barely a whisper.

“That’s not it…”

I said nothing. I just looked at him.

The dam broke. It all poured out of him at once, and the tears came with it.

“Hazel, I love you. I can’t be without you.”

“I regret it every single day. I regret how I treated you. I regret not opening up to you sooner. I regret being too much of a coward to

—

come find you for five years.”

He closed the distance and pressed my hand flat against his chest.

His voice cracked.

“Hazel, you can hear me now. So listen. Just listen. There’s nothing in

there but you.”

For the first time, his inner thoughts didn’t contradict his words.

Just raw regret, desperate pleading, and my name, echoing over and

over. Screaming.

[Hazel, I was wrong. I’m begging you. Look at me the way you used

to.]

[Hazel. Please don’t leave me.]