I turn and walk out of the barn, seeing Mayson still there standing by the truck. He pushes off when he sees me. “I’ve got her,” I say, and he ignores me and looks over my shoulder.
“You going to be okay?” he asks, and she looks at him. He walks to her and takes a phone out of his pocket. “If you need me, call Chelsea and I’ll be right there.”
I glare at him when he walks past me to his truck. I take a deep inhale and then walk to her. “The golf cart is over there.” I point behind her, and she turns and walks toward it. She sits far away from me, and I hate it. My hands grip the steering wheel so tight I’m surprised it doesn’t break off.
I park the golf cart and walk into the house with her following me instead of holding her hand. I turn once I’m in the living room and look at her. “I don’t know where you are going to be comfortable doing this.” I look at her and see that she is wiping away tears.
“There is nowhere to do this,” she says. “Everything has been said. Just let me leave and—" I hold up my hand so she stops talking.
“You think I’d let you leave?” I ask, the next word coming out in a whisper. “Never.”
“Quinn, please,” she says, her voice cracking.
“I may have been mad,” I say. “And stupid for leaving you. But you have to understand that I’ve never done this before.” She wrings her hands together, and my heart feels like someone just kicked it. “I’ve never been in love before.” She gasps out. “You have to know that’s how I feel.” I walk to her now, my feet not stopping until I’m in front of her. “I will fight for you.” My hand comes up and pushes her hair away from her face. “I will fight with you.” A sob rips through her. “And I will fight to be with you.”
“Quinn,” she says, her voice breaking, and I need her to see me. I need her to look me in the eyes.
“You are everything,” I say, and I don’t even wait for her to say anything before I press my lips to hers.
Chapter 32
Willow
His lips press against mine, and it’s a good thing he’s holding me because I might have fallen to the floor. I take his kiss and then push away from him.
“You don’t mean that,” I say, holding on to the couch as my knees shake. “You can’t mean that.”
“I mean every single word,” he says, looking at me. “Every single fucking word.”
“But the things I’ve done,” I say, shaking my head. When his father caught me, I knew that my secret would be exposed, the secret that I hoped would never come out. I stood there in front of them and told them that I helped make all of this happen. I stood there, hoping and praying that they wouldn’t look at me like I was the monster I was.
“You have done nothing,” he says, and I shake my head. “Listen to me and listen to me good.” I look at him, putting my hand in front of my mouth right before I sob out. “You did what you needed to do to survive.”
“But,” I start to say. “But.”
“Do you want to stay here?” he asks, and my stomach shoots up to my heart.
“Before all of this,” I say the truth because he deserves to know the truth. He needs to know no matter what the future holds, I need to tell him. “Before all of this happened,” I start again, shaking the nerves from my hands. “I decided that I was going to tell you that I chose you,” I say, my heart feeling the pressure in my chest. “I had picked you. This is where I wanted to be. You are who I wanted to be with. I don’t know what love is. I have never felt it before. But just the thought of not being with you. Just the thought of not seeing you every single day, it was a feeling I’ve never felt before. I was so scared.” I swallow. “So scared that one day you would wake up and see that I wasn’t worthy of you.”
“I’m the one that isn’t worthy of you,” he says. “I’m the one who left you instead of fighting for you. But when I saw that bag. I had this dread that washed over me that you would leave me, and the thought was too much to bear. I just couldn’t.” His hands go back to my face. “I can’t picture life without you.”
The tears roll down my cheeks and over his hands. “That is why I came looking for you,” I say. “To tell you that I don’t want to leave and that I was going to throw the bag out.” I put my hands on his wrists. “But then.”
“You don’t have to relive it,” he says, kissing me softly.
“If I’m going to stay here,” I say. “I have to come clean with Chelsea. I don’t want to keep this from her.” I look into his beautiful blue eyes. “Will you come with me to tell her?”
“I’ll go to the end of the earth for you,” he says. “Do you want to go now?”
“I do,” I say. “I want to go and speak with your dad also.”
He looks at me. “You don’t have to do all of this today.”
“You’re wrong. I do. For me and for them,” I say, and he nods his head. He holds my hand walking out of the house, as we make our way over to their house. I look out the window as I try to think about what I’m going to tell Chelsea. I know I told Quinn I couldn’t live without him, but I know that I can’t come between his family. I won’t.
We pull up to the house, and he kisses my lips. “No matter what happens, we will get through this,” he says, and I know that I have no right to feel sorry for myself. I have no right to feel anything.
He holds my hand, and when Chelsea answers the door, her smile quickly fades when she sees me, and my heart sinks. She knows is the only thing that goes through my mind. “Come in,” she says and quickly puts her arms around my shoulders. “Is everything okay? What happened?”
“Um,” I start to say, but I stop when Mayson comes into the room. He looks at me and then at Quinn.
“I was wondering if I can have a couple of minutes of your time?” I look at Chelsea and then turn back to look at Mayson. “There are things I need to tell you.”
“Of course,” Chelsea says as we walk into the house. I sit on the couch with Quinn beside me. Both of my hands are holding one of his. Mayson sits next to Chelsea. “What is going on?” She looks at everyone and then back at me. “I’m getting scared.”
“I have a confession to make,” I say. “And I want you to know that I never ever wanted anything to happen to you.” I look down at my hands and then up at her. “It was me,” I say. “I’m the reason he was able to kidnap you.”
“It was not you,” Mayson says. “It was not you.”
“Oh, Willow,” Chelsea says, getting up and coming over to my side. “Mayson told me the story, and you have to know I would never blame you. You were a victim, just like everyone else. The only one responsible for this is Benjamin and Benjamin alone.”
“But.” I shake my head. “But I didn’t stop him.”
“He would have found a way to get to me regardless if you didn’t help him. He was a sick man and he is rotting in hell,” Chelsea tells me. “Now this man has had enough of my tears. He’s had enough of your tears and we know that he’s had enough of Mayson’s tears.”