Page 244 of Show Me

“No. We hooked up once. Went out once. That was it.”

She studies me for a second. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.”

“That I’m jealous you slept with someone two years before we were together?” She shakes her head. “I’m not.”

“Ruby–”

“Your past isn’t what hurt me, Xavier.”

That shuts me up.

“I don’t care that there were women before me. I don’t need names or explanations. And you don’t owe me an apology for any of them.”

“There was never anyone I wanted more from.”

Her eyes meet mine. “Until me?”

“Until you.”

Something shifts in her expression, but she doesn’t look away.

“That’s the part that hurt,” she says quietly. “You wanted more with me, but you kept telling me we couldn’t have it.”

My chest tightens. “I know.”

“You kept calling it casual. No expectations. No promises.” She pauses. “So when it mattered, what was I supposed to believe?”

Fuck.

“What I showed you.” I shake my head. “Except I made damn sure my words gave you a reason to question that too.”

“Yeah.”

I take a step back instead of forward, even though every part of me wants to close the distance between us.

“I can’t change that.”

“No.”

“But I can stop doing it.”

Ruby watches me for a long moment. “Words aren’t going to fix this.”

“I know.”

“If you’re in, you’re in. I won’t do halfway with you again.”

“I’m in.” There’s no hesitation this time. She’s what I want, and if I have to spend the rest of my life proving it, I will.

Her eyes stay on mine. “Then prove it.”

“I will.”