The following night, just after we shared a shower, I went back to my room to begin packing. Not that I had a lot to pack since we had been in our robes for the last twenty-four hours, but I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything left behind. Before heading for class, I had to drop my things back at the apartment, and that could take some time with traffic.

While in the shower, we had agreed he would take me to my place then drop me off at school. His route was the opposite of mine, but he had insisted, and who was I to resist a free ride?

“I know you don’t trust me, but give me a trial,” Drew said out of the blue as I held my hairdryer.

Confused by his statement, I frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

He didn’t blink as he strode to me, stopping just a few steps away. “For you … to be with me.”

Dropping the dryer on the carpeted floor, I shivered as I tried to grasp what he was saying. “I’m not going to let you trample on me like that. We’ve been here before.”

“I know I’ve done a lot of wrong, and I don’t deserve you after hurting you, but I can’t risk losing you again.”

“Drew …” This was horrifying. When I’d loved him, I had loved him with everything I had, while he had thrown me away like garbage. He had lost my trust, and it would be nearly impossible to reclaim it.

“This has been amazing. Hell, you’ve been amazing, and I never thought that was possible before … But as much fun as we had together, I just can’t do it. I’m sorry, but I’m terrified of what you’re capable of.”

He dropped to his knees, crestfallen as he gripped my hands. “I haven’t slept well since we parted. I’m stubborn and prideful, and I told myself that I’d eventually get over it, even it killed me to know you’re with him. But it’s been impossible, and God knows I’ve tried to forget you. But you wouldn’t leave me alone, you are in all my thoughts, hounding my dreams until I wake up, reaching out for you, only to have to remind myself that you’re gone.

“On the nights that were really tough to get through, I came back to the condo sometimes at three or four in the morning just to check if you were home and not at his place. It comforted me that you would fall asleep in my bed, wearing my shirt, but I couldn’t bring myself to talk to you, because after I pushed you away like that, you wouldn’t give me the time of day. It became a bad habit of mine, watching you sleep just to reassure myself that you were okay.

But that one Saturday when your family came to visit and you went out with him, I came to find your bed empty, and I really lost it. So I tracked you down to his building. I waited until people began waking up, but you never came out. I came the next day, wanting to make your life a living hell, but when I found you baking cupcakes with dried icing on your cheeks, I knew I had lost the fight. It hit me then … that I really lost you.

“I’ve been sick, thinking about you and how I pushed you back in his arms. I’d rather suffer what you put me through than lose you again. So please choose me, give me a chance to prove to you that I’m going to do everything to make you happy. I’m only at peace when I’m with you. There’s no way I can live without you after this, Chloe. I won’t be able to bear it. I don’t have the strength to survive it constantly, living in agony every single day without you.”

When I didn’t immediately respond, Drew became even more desperate.

“If you can’t choose, I don’t mind having half of you. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me as long as it doesn’t result in losing you completely. I’m at your mercy if you’re willing to have me.”

He was in a whole different field. Did he really think I would be capable of juggling men like that?

“I’m not with Cori. And after we fought and I dated him for some time, I didn’t go through with it. I couldn’t. Not with him, not after what happened between us.” My heart ached at the thought of making a decision that would greatly affect us. Had he told me what he was going through, we might have not suffered for so long.

“I’m overjoyed to hear that, but where does that leave me, Chloe?”

Gazing down at him, I felt bereft at the thought of handing him my heart like I had before. “I’m scared.”

“I am, too, but I’d rather be scared with you. My future is with you by my side as my partner, as my best friend, my family … and hopefully, someday … as my wife. It’s insane to think so far ahead when we’re still so young, but I just wanted to let you know where my thoughts rested. If you’re going to decline me, go ahead, but I’m not giving up on you, not now, not ever. Letting you walk away was the biggest mistake of my life. Never again.”

He was referencing the future as though he had already pondered it. And when he said wife … We were far too young to even let our thoughts stray that far, yet it seemed like he already had, seeing me as the only woman for him.

“You really want to be with me?” I found myself asking.

“More than anything in this world,” he stated without hesitation.

“What about the models? Poppy?”

“You’re the one I want, Chloe. It’s always been you, though it took me too long to accept it. Now that I have, I don’t want anyone else but you, day in and day out. You, just you, welcoming me home.”

“What if you change your mind later on, what then?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“But … What if I’m not enough?”

“Chloe, you’ve seen how much I couldn’t get enough of you. I want you like I want no other woman. All I have to do is take one look at you, and I’m all yours, over and over again. I’m yours.”

“Are you sure this is what you really want, Drew?” I needed to make sure for the umpteenth time.

He groaned before tackling me back in bed, holding me down as he stared into my eyes. “Yes, woman, you’re all I’ve ever wanted. I’ve been trying to win you back for days, but you seem to only want one thing from me.”

The cheeky bastard.

“Oh, please. You’re the one who’s insatiable.” I couldn’t help smiling at him.

But on a serious note, I knew I still loved him. And even though I had held him at arm’s length when it came to my heart, deep down, I knew I would regret not giving us a proper shot at being together. So here I was, ready to bite the bullet for the last time.

“One chance, Drew; that’s all you’re going to get. Fuck it up, and we’re done for good.”

“I swear on everything that’s Holy and divine that I’m going to make you so happy you’re going to get yourself knocked up and propose marriage to me.” He laughed before he held my head and kissed the tip of my nose. “You’re my drug, Chloe. I want you in ways I never thought possible, and I hope someday, once I’ve regained your trust, you will feel even half of what I feel for you. But for now, I just want you to know that I take this promise seriously, that I’ll protect your heart before my own, and that you will always come first before anyone else, before my own interests. Your happiness is my priority for always.”

“Kiss me, please.”

He made me so happy I hoped to God this time we would be able to get it together for it to last.

I was over the moon, and I wanted to stay like that forever.