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“You can’t say that,” she argues hotly. “There’s a—”
“Believe me, Penny. This isn’t a fairytale. It’s not a fantasy. I’m not the one, no matter how much I try, and I’ll never be good enough for you. Andrew is a better option.” I turn away, my shoulders droop. “He’s a better man than I am.”
“Andrew?” She laughs harshly and shakes her head at me. “I can’t believe you. I almost got married to Andrew, Liam. But I couldn’t, because of you! I won’t stand here and let you tell me that you’re not good enough for me!”
Penny never loses her cool, and I wish so badly we weren’t arguing.
“Look at me,” I tell her softly. “I am broken, Penny. I’m a reminder of everything you don’t want. You didn’t want me to join the Army because you were afraid, but I did! Now look at me!” Hurt and pain blossom in my chest.
“I may not have physically died, but I am only a shell of who I was. An empty shell. I can’t give you what you want. Why would you want to saddle yourself with such a burden? You don’t want this. It’s not too late. Just walk away.”
Instead of an outburst, a small smile creeps across Penny’s face. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she says. “And you say it like you believe it. How can you believe it? But more importantly, why would you think that I believe it?”
I open my mouth to counter her, but she raises a finger to silence me. “You’ve been working so hard, Liam. When are you going to give yourself some credit?”
Tears burn my eyes, but I remain strong. Penny continues, anger blazing in her eyes. “Every day, I see the Liam I used to know. He’s becoming more recognizable. You smile more. You laugh more. You make jokes, you try.”
I turn away from her, resenting her words. “Liam, you picked yourself up and showed up every day to do the work. You put yourself through therapy; if that’s not a big deal, I don’t know what is.”
My silence expands the air between us, but Penny fills it quickly. “And what about all you do for the kids, Liam?”
She doesn’t touch me, but the softness in her voice makes me flinch. “You show up for them every single day, no matter how hard it is to get up in the morning. You put your struggles aside and show them what discipline really is. That is the Liam I know.”
“Penny—”
“You are not a shell,” she insists. “You are not empty. You are full of love, strength, kindness, and everything I want in a man. You’ve always been the one for me, and that hasn’t changed.”
“Please—”
“I want to be your strength.” She walks toward me and touches my arm. “I want to fight with you and for you. Together, there isn’t anything we can’t work through.”
“I don’t know if I can put you through that,” I whisper, unable to look at her. “I can’t do that to you, Penny. Letting you go again tears me up inside.”
She pulls away from me, although her stare remains. I wither underneath her powerful gaze, and I wonder what she’s thinking. After a few treacherous seconds of silence, Penny sighs and nods.
“Okay. I’ll leave you alone.”
My heart completely shatters, and it’s clear that I’m going insane. This is what I want, right? For her to agree to leave me alone? But now that I hear her say it, something inside of me breaks.
“But before I do that, you have to do one thing for me,” she says, her eyes pinning me, and I can’t look away.
“What?” I hold my breath.
“I will leave you alone,” she says. “But I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me. If you can do that, then I’ll leave.”
As far as ultimatums go, this is the worst. I can’t say those words to her, but I see the determination in Penny’s eyes, and I know she means it. When I think about the years I spent without her and the thought of truly letting her go, my walls crumble. I know that if I push her away from me, I’ll never recover from it. In one stride, I reach her and gently cup her face, peering into her eyes.
“I can’t say that.”
“Liam,” she whispers, her eyes shiny.
“I love you, Penny. I love you so much.” My voice shakes with intensity, and I swoop down and claim her lips with every intention of never letting her go.
Chapter 27
Penny
The moment his lips touch mine, my world stops and tilts on its axis. His mouth moves over mine so softly, it’s like a whisper. But the whisper screams of his feelings. If he hadn’t confessed his love for me a few seconds ago, this kiss would have been a confession in itself.
