Page 51 of Falling for the Enemy

“It means you care about her.”

“No shit. I already admitted that.” God, this was getting too much. He didn’t like everyone knowing his business. “This was supposed to be a private thing.”

“For how long? What happens when some rich, blonde Stepford wife finally stakes a claim? Will you still see Jocelyn then? Keep it private like a dirty little secret?”

“I’m not a shmuck. I don’t cheat. Jocelyn and I never put rules on each other.”

“So you would just walk away.”

“I…” His words got stuck in his throat.

Would he? He should have ended things a year ago.

Could he? He’d been trying to quit going back to her for months, but somehow he always found himself at her door.

Wren leaned forward and placed an empathetic hand on his knee. “You can’t have both, Soren. Eventually, you’re going to have to choose.”

He stared down at her wedding ring glinting in the sun. “I know.” The weight of those two words crushed him.

He thought he knew what he wanted. He’d always had a type, and Jocelyn was not it. But he’d never had such a difficult time walking away from a woman.

“I fucked up last night.”

“You’ll fix it.”

“I don’t know. I acted like a complete asshole.”

“You’re a Hawthorne. It happens.”

“I can’t figure out why she has this hold over me.”

“The Universe doesn’t make mistakes, Soren. It tends to give us exactly what we need. Humans have just gotten really good at confusing things.”

“Is that how you finally got Greyson?”

“I like to think so. God knows I manifested it hard enough.”

He smiled, because that was such a Wren thing to say. “Why do you think it took him so long to realize you were perfect for each other?”

“Because he’s a stubborn Hawthorne.”

“You and Grey at least wanted the same things.”

“Not always. Not at the same time. Grey always wanted to protect me, but I needed him to love me. He couldn’t do that until he admitted that true love, love like ours, is bigger than both of us. Once he let nature take its course, everything just fell into place.”

“I like control too much.”

“Then keep control, but let yourself go to Jocelyn. Give yourself permission to care for her out in the open no matter what the outcome might be. I think, more than a wife, you need a friend right now. And I can attest that Jocelyn is a great one to have.”

“What if it gets too complicated? What if it doesn’t work out?”

“You won’t know unless you try. Talk to her. Have a real conversation like a real couple.”

“Say I try, and she throws a flowerpot at my head and tells me to get the hell out? What then?”

“She won’t.”

“I don’t think you know how crazy she can get.”