Stealing Stars - Stealing #1 (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 2 - Part 2

The time to be honest was here, even if it was going to hurt.

"You're a good man, Charlie Warren, and you deserve someone who can love you the way you should be loved."

His features were closed off. "Give it time and you will." His voice was tight.

She wanted to be able to do just that, but it didn't work like that. "It's been nearly two years." And it hadn't changed how she felt about him. She had earnestly tried hard to make it work with him but some things couldn't be forced.

"We can make it work." There was that familiar determined look in his eye.

She shook her head. "I love you, but not in the way you need me to."

He faltered as he took in her words, and she waited for him to respond.

"I can make you happy. Just give me a chance," he pleaded, taking her hand into his. The warmth of his hands seeped into hers and she felt the pull to give in and let him take care of her, but it was time to be honest and do the right thing, even if it was hard.

Nothing good in life came easy, and she had to remember that.

She felt the dread creep up inside as she shook her head, gently watching his features fall. She withdrew her hand slowly.

"I could have made you happy." The sadness in his beautiful eyes brought her guilt to the surface, but she had to stay strong. Giving in would only make things worse. She had to remind herself that if she had faced the truth before, instead of being a coward, things would have turned out very differently—for one thing, she wouldn't be in the situation she was in now.

"You shouldn't settle. You deserve someone who will put you first, and as much as I want to be that person... I'm not."

He stared at her, clearly trying to grapple with the array of emotions pulling him in different directions.

"Is this about Karsyn?" he asked, studying her closely, like he was trying to read what she wasn't saying. "Do you still have feelings for him?"

She shook her head. "No." But that was a lie. She would always have feelings for him.

The silence between the two of them stretched on.

"Karsyn is too fucked up to love anyone," he said angrily. He wasn't wrong, but that did nothing to change how she felt.

Not all love was meant to be returned. Falling in love wasn't based on the person's ability to return it.

"He hurt you before and he'll do it again. Can't you see that?" He was getting angrier and nothing she was going to say was going to change that. She couldn't blame him for reacting the way he was, but she wished he would realize that no matter what he said or did, nothing was going to sway her from her decision.

"Like I said, this has nothing to do with him," she said, determined to end it.

What she did or didn't feel for Karsyn didn't change the fact that she didn't love Charlie. It was that simple. She lifted her chin slightly, with more determination to do the right thing, no matter how awful it made her feel.

"Then I think you deserve him." He gave one last glare before he stalked out of the room and out the front door, slamming it so hard the sound vibrated through the house.

For a while she stood staring at the door, feeling like a piece of her world had just fallen away. Gone was the stability and security that had held her together for the last two years. Her hands shook and she gripped them together.

"That went well," Myles drawled from the kitchen doorway.

"Tell me about it." She felt deflated and sat down on the sofa, very aware that she was still only dressed in a towel.