Page 344 of Power Play

The sound she made followed me across the snow. It was small and broken, the same sound that almost made me open the door the night before.

Today, it touched nothing.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know that isn’t enough. I know I failed you, but I need you to hear why.”

I unlocked the truck.

“Ryan.”

I opened the rear door and threw my bag inside. Her hand lifted as though she intended to touch my arm, but she remembered what happened the last time. Her fingers curled into her palm before they reached me.

“Please don’t act like I’m not here.”

I closed the truck door and looked toward Briggs. He stood on the porch with Cade and Easton several feet behind him. Bliss and Aura remained inside the lodge, visible through the open doorway.

“I’ll be at the apartment tonight,” I told Briggs. “You guys enjoy the place.”

Briggs came down one step. “I’ll meet you there.”

“So will I,” Cade said.

Easton moved beside him. “Me too.”

“You don’t need to.”

“Didn’t ask,” Briggs replied.

I nodded once.

Charm looked between us as she finally understood I was leaving the lodge I rented rather than spend one night beneath the same roof as her.

“You don’t have to go.” Her voice cracked. “I’ll stay in the other cabin. I won’t bother you after we talk. I swear.”

I walked toward the driver’s door, and she followed.

“Ryan, I stood up to them after you left.”

My hand stilled on the handle, but I didn’t turn around.

“I told my father what he did was wrong. I told my mother they betrayed me. I left that house and chased you because I choose you.”

Too late.

Every word was one she should have said while I stood in that study begging her to prove I mattered.

“Please say something.”

I opened the door.

“Tell me you hate me. Yell at me again. Say whatever you need to say, but please don’t look through me like I’m nobody.”

I climbed behind the wheel.

Charm caught the edge of the open door without touching me. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she stood inside the narrow space between the truck and the frame.

“I’m asking you to trust that I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her fingers tightened around the metal. “Please, Ryan. You know me. You know who I am.”

I stared through the windshield.