Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

Naked Towel Tango. I take a final step back, until I’m flush against the house’s
stucco. It pricks my skin, a welcome discomfort. Just the tiniest pain compared
to what’s shearing through me.
He heard my confession. He knows I’ve caught feelings for him. And now
he’s going to graciously, gently break my fledgling heart. I know it already.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
“Not particularly.” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand, then sink my
fingers into my fidget necklace. I spin the time turner, slip my thumb through the
Quidditch goal. “I don’t handle stressful situations well. I get anxious.
Overwrought. Histrionic. It’s very Victorian.”
Ren stares at me, a series of emotions flying over his face before I have the
faintest chance of identifying even one of them. “Now I know you’re upset,
Frankie. You’re making bad, self-deprecating jokes.”
I scowl at him. He stares down at me, his eyes pale and mysterious as the
moon behind him.
I glance away. I can’t handle the intensity of his gaze. I stare at his dress
shoes, planted wide in the grass. The long line of his legs. Up his solid torso to
the hollow of his throat. I close my eyes and remember what he looks like
beneath that crisp dress shirt. He has one of those bodies that could be carved in
granite. Power wrapped in beauty.
I want Ren so badly. I want him as much as I want to run away from him as
fast as I can. Because I haven’t wanted to let someone in, in a long, long time.
It’s terrifying as ever. And it hurts even worse, now that I know rejection is
coming before I even asked for a chance.
“Frankie.” The plea in his voice draws my gaze. I couldn’t look away if I
wanted to.
“After I say what I’m about to, I want to hear your honest feelings on it
but…not now, if that’s all right. I was hoping you’ll give it a bit of time to sink
in first.”
I wrinkle my nose. “That’s not generally how I work, Zenzero. I don’t have
tons of filter between this and this.” I point from my temple to my lips.
“One of the many things I like about you.” He grins. “But I think what I have
to say might leave you a bit…shocked. It will at least buy me the few precious
seconds it will take to walk through your house and get in the van. And I’m
going to do that. Because I am a coward.”
I swallow in nervousness, clenching my hands into fists, as an odd current of
fear and unease rolls through me. “You’re about the least cowardly person I’ve
ever met, but okay.”
Ren exhales heavily. “So. Once I say it, I’m going to leave. And when you’re