Chapter 8. Beneath the Surface

Myla’s pulse thudded in her ears as Hayden’s confession settled into her chest like warm honey followed by sharp glass. She couldn’t tell which cut deeper: the fact that he had shared that vulnerable piece of his past... or that he was offering her up now like a gift.

She turned to Jared and Beck. “Please, can you give us some privacy?”

Jared and Beck exchanged a look and quietly left the room, closing the door behind them with a soft click.

“I don’t want anyone else,” she said when they stepped out. “I can’t just... jump into bed with them like that.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Hayden replied gently, rolling closer. “I just want to give you what you’ve been needing. If you later change your mind, it will not affect my love for you. I will always love you.”

Hayden cradled her face in his hands, gently pulled her face down to his, and kissed her with a passionate abandon that had been missing in the two ye