Perfection Is Just an Illusion (Swimming Upstream #1) by Rebecca Barber Page B

we were together and when we weren’t. But there was this one time Grant told me he loved me. I was young and foolish and impulsive and I thought I was in love. I was a sworn virgin. No sex until I was married, that’s something I always believed in, still do. But Grant tried every trick in the book to coax me into bed. He tried getting me drunk, telling me that he loved me, and even when we started fooling around he always tried to take it that one step too far. I kept telling him I wasn’t ready.” She sighed.
    “But Grant was a teenage boy. And this was something he couldn’t stand. He hated the word no. It was like no one ever said it to him before and he didn’t like it one bit. He broke my heart for what I think was the fifth time because I ‘wasn’t mature enough for him.’ A week later Grant was already sleeping with my best friend and I lost them both forever. Things changed from then on. I made the decision that no matter what happened to me in my life I would never let anyone get into the position to hurt me again. Then I met you.” She wondered if she should steal a glance at James. No, she was too afraid.
    “And I loved you so much, right from the beginning. But I was so scared that if you saw it, you would hurt me. But you didn’t. You were kind and sweet, and the more time I spent with you the deeper and faster I fell.” Anna dared to look up at James and she was shocked by what she saw. A constant stream of salty tears silently ran down his cheeks. “I’ll never forget the hurtful, hateful things Grant said to me. But the one that cut the deepest, the one that hurt the most was how I was nothing and no one could ever love someone so damaged.” She twisted her fingers together nervously.
    “Then last week you took me back home. You didn’t know and he assumed I had forgotten everything—the way he treated me, the way he repeatedly broken my heart, the horrible things he’d said and how badly he hurt me. Then he asked me to dance and it completely freaked me out.”
    “What happened, Anna? What did he say?” Anna could tell James was absolutely fuming. His face was red and Anna could see the veins in his neck pop out. Anna was sure that if he could have gotten his hands around Grant’s throat in that moment, he would surely strangle him without hesitation.
    “He told me that ‘I had really done it.’ And that I had gotten exactly what I wanted. But what hurt the most was the fact that everything he was saying was true. I did get what I wanted. I got you. Then he reminded me that I wasn’t up to your standards and that I was the lucky one because you could do so much better. Grant wanted to be the one to make you see that I’m just some little once fat wannabe, who isn’t good enough to be your wife. I couldn’t let him be the one to help you see that. I knew I had to be the one to let you know the truth. But when the time came to tell you, I freaked out. I took the easy way out. I bolted.” Anna wiped furiously at her eyes.
    “I jumped in the car and took off as fast as I possibly could. But I couldn’t even get that right. I crashed and ended up in hospital. And you found me. I wanted to save you, so I left. At the hospital when they asked me who to call, I didn’t give them your name. I didn’t want you to find me.” Anna’s words were beginning to slur as her emotions finally kicked into overdrive. “I just wanted to make your life easier by disappearing. Then you wouldn’t have to feel guilty or bad about ending this because it was my fault. You could be free to live your life the way you wanted to with whomever you wanted,” Anna spluttered barely coherently. She was nothing more than a babbling, crying mess.
    “Anna.” James’s voice softened, wrapping his arms around her. “That doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a brave person. You were young and scared but you stuck to your beliefs. He’s the asshole in this situation, not you. I really respect