actually want this and that I am somehow playing you and that in the end you're going to lose Alec in the process?” I ask, my question sounding stupid even to me but wanting to get away from the topic of the child he lost.
“I want to make sure that I am worth the risk for you Grace. My relationship experience begins and ends with what I just told you. I've never cared for another person enough to want anything more.” He says, finally meeting my eyes. “I'm not good . I leave heartache and disappointment everywhere I go. Hell, I've already shown you how epically I can fail and the mistakes I make when I panic. You deserve so much more than this Grace but I can't seem to let you go.”
“The tattoo.” I say, propping my chin on his chest, finally putting together the meaning behind the Johnny Cash lyrics tattooed across his bicep.
“It represents a very long line of people I have hurt along the way. Make no mistake, I have been far from perfect since then. But this, you and me, I guess it kind of hits close to home.” He admits.
“I get it. I get how similar this situation is to your past and how uneasy that may make you but Zayne, I'm not her. I don't think you're not enough and I don't want you to be anything but who you are. I may be inexperienced but I am not stupid and I am choosing to enter into this with my eyes wide open. Yes you may hurt me and yes this may end horribly but right now, I don't care. I just want you.”
“But Alec.” He starts, but I hold my fingers up to his mouth to silence him.
“Alec has nothing to do with this. We are both adults and what we choose to do when he's not around is not a concern of his. I need you to start treating me like Grace and stop treating me like Alec's fragile little sister. I'm not made of glass and trust me, I've survived much worse.....” I break off, not able to complete my sentence.
“I wasn't... I'm sorry Grace. It's a little too familiar. After Chad, I swore I would never hurt someone I cared about that way again. Despite our competitive nature, he was like a brother to me and it gutted me when I saw how badly I hurt him. I have only formed one other relationship like that in my life. Alec is not only my best friend and business partner, he's my brother too.” He says, rolling to his side to face me.
I readjust, reaching up to brush his messy hair away from his forehead. “And I love that about you. I love how much you value your friendship with him. But again, I am a grown woman. I make my own choices. Is it wrong to keep this from Alec, maybe it is. But we have to be free to explore, well whatever this is.” I say, gesturing between the two of us. “Without him influencing which way this goes.”
“So to sum all this up, you totally want me.” He says, flipping the mood from serious and heavy to joking and playful in the matter of seconds and then laughing at his own cockiness.
“I totally do.” I joke back, grabbing his face with both of my hands and kissing him square on the mouth. “And you're damn lucky for it too.”
“That I am Grace Morgan.” He says, kissing me again. “That I am.”
Chapter Eleven
I wake to a slight swaying motion and in desperate need of a bathroom. It takes me a moment to realize that I am still in the master suite of the yacht and that the person currently draped over my body is Zayne.
I can't remember falling asleep but we must have talked into the late hours of the night. Having no clock in the cabin and my phone somewhere on the deck, I have no way of
“I want to make sure that I am worth the risk for you Grace. My relationship experience begins and ends with what I just told you. I've never cared for another person enough to want anything more.” He says, finally meeting my eyes. “I'm not good . I leave heartache and disappointment everywhere I go. Hell, I've already shown you how epically I can fail and the mistakes I make when I panic. You deserve so much more than this Grace but I can't seem to let you go.”
“The tattoo.” I say, propping my chin on his chest, finally putting together the meaning behind the Johnny Cash lyrics tattooed across his bicep.
“It represents a very long line of people I have hurt along the way. Make no mistake, I have been far from perfect since then. But this, you and me, I guess it kind of hits close to home.” He admits.
“I get it. I get how similar this situation is to your past and how uneasy that may make you but Zayne, I'm not her. I don't think you're not enough and I don't want you to be anything but who you are. I may be inexperienced but I am not stupid and I am choosing to enter into this with my eyes wide open. Yes you may hurt me and yes this may end horribly but right now, I don't care. I just want you.”
“But Alec.” He starts, but I hold my fingers up to his mouth to silence him.
“Alec has nothing to do with this. We are both adults and what we choose to do when he's not around is not a concern of his. I need you to start treating me like Grace and stop treating me like Alec's fragile little sister. I'm not made of glass and trust me, I've survived much worse.....” I break off, not able to complete my sentence.
“I wasn't... I'm sorry Grace. It's a little too familiar. After Chad, I swore I would never hurt someone I cared about that way again. Despite our competitive nature, he was like a brother to me and it gutted me when I saw how badly I hurt him. I have only formed one other relationship like that in my life. Alec is not only my best friend and business partner, he's my brother too.” He says, rolling to his side to face me.
I readjust, reaching up to brush his messy hair away from his forehead. “And I love that about you. I love how much you value your friendship with him. But again, I am a grown woman. I make my own choices. Is it wrong to keep this from Alec, maybe it is. But we have to be free to explore, well whatever this is.” I say, gesturing between the two of us. “Without him influencing which way this goes.”
“So to sum all this up, you totally want me.” He says, flipping the mood from serious and heavy to joking and playful in the matter of seconds and then laughing at his own cockiness.
“I totally do.” I joke back, grabbing his face with both of my hands and kissing him square on the mouth. “And you're damn lucky for it too.”
“That I am Grace Morgan.” He says, kissing me again. “That I am.”
Chapter Eleven
I wake to a slight swaying motion and in desperate need of a bathroom. It takes me a moment to realize that I am still in the master suite of the yacht and that the person currently draped over my body is Zayne.
I can't remember falling asleep but we must have talked into the late hours of the night. Having no clock in the cabin and my phone somewhere on the deck, I have no way of
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