Intuition by C. J. Omololu Page B

breath gets shallow and I feel my heart racing. There’s no going back now—I have to tell him the truth. “His name is Drew.”
    Griffon waits without speaking, calm on the outside, but even from here I can feel how upset he is.
    I force myself to look in his eyes so that he can see I’m not lying about the rest of it. “Before . . . a long time before . . . his name was Connor. Connor Wyatt.”
    He seems to lose all color in his face as the name sinks in. After that lifetime he must have done research on Lady Allison, because he knows exactly who Connor was. “Lord Connor Wyatt?” He glances back over my shoulder. “Are you sure?”
    I press my lips together hard; the uncertainty of his reaction is killing me. I can only nod.
    â€œI’m out of here,” Griffon says suddenly, turning and walking quickly down the hallway.
    I catch him as he reaches the outside door. “Griffon, stop, please! Let me explain!”
    One hand on the door, he straightens his back and turns toward me. The look on his face is devastating. His eyes are hard, as if he’s made a crucial decision in the few moments since he heard the truth. “There’s nothing to explain. I get it. You have unfinished business with . . . with him. I can’t compete with that.”
    â€œCome on, you’re being ridiculous.” I feel suddenly hot all over, like I’m going to be sick. “There’s nothing between me and Drew. You’ve got to believe that.” I reach for his arm to lead him outside, but Griffon shakes me off. “Please,” I say. “Let’s go outside and talk about this.”
    Griffon looks at the ground. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
    â€œIt’s not like that.” I feel desperation rising as I open the door. “Please. Just come outside.”
    Griffon grunts, but follows me. The sound of cars whizzing by on the busy street calms me just the slightest bit. “Drew’s engaged to Kat’s boss.” I take a deep breath and start again, knowing this isn’t coming out the way I want it. My voice drops to a whisper. “He . . . he was explaining some things that I’m starting to remember.”
    Something shifts in Griffon’s eyes, and I feel a jolt of hope running through me. He wants to believe me. He reaches over and lightly runs his finger over my ankh. “He gave you that, didn’t he?”
    I force myself to answer. “Yes. And he just wanted to give me the earrings that go with it.”
    I can barely hear him as he whispers, “What else does he want from you?”
    â€œNothing! It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be with him, no matter what our relationship was before. I want to be with you. I love
you
.”
    Griffon blinks slowly and his nostrils flare as he considers my words. “I’m not ready to do this again, Cole.”
    â€œWhat do you mean
again
?” My words rush out as I try to keep him here. I can feel him pulling away, retreating from me. “There hasn’t been anyone else.”
    â€œI don’t mean with you.” His tone is dismissive, and I feel everything deflate. “I’ve done this before, and I swore I’d never do it again. If . . .” He pauses and glances at me just for a second. “If you have a history with him, something you have to finish in this lifetime, I can’t stand in the way of that. I won’t stand in the way of that. Not this time.”
    In a rush I realize that so much of what he’s reacting to has nothing to do with me or our relationship in this lifetime. It’s all about the pain he’s carried through many lifetimes. “What happened in your past has nothing to do with us,” I say. I can hear the pleading in my voice, but I can’t do anything about it. “This is about you and me. Here and now.”
    Griffon waves my words away, but the look of pain on his