Not the One Read online

  He looked up at her. “That’s understood—”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, it’s not.”

  He seemed put off as he threw his hands up. “Fine, I love you.”

  When laughter came from beside them, she finally looked to see Theo approaching. “Damn, thank God I never learned how to tell a woman I loved her from my big bro.”

  “Theo, stop,” she warned, but he wasn’t listening. His gaze was on Montgomery’s.

  “You don’t love her. You probably never did.”

  “You don’t know shit, you piece of shit.”

  Theo shrugged. “I don’t know, I feel you may be the POS, friend.”

  “I’m not your friend,” Mont sneered, his eyes fiery as he shook his head. “You think she’s yours? No, she’s mine.”

  “Ha, she was never yours. She was always mine.”

  “Really? Who’s been fucking her for the last five years?”

  “That’s all you’ve done. You haven’t loved her,” Theo said, not the least bit affected by his words. “If you loved her, you wouldn’t be speaking like that about her.”

  “You don’t know shit.”

  “I know a lot, friend, and I know she doesn’t love you.”

  Montgomery’s face went red. “Get the hell out of here.”

  Theo was untroubled as he looked back at Gen. “I’m good.”

  Montgomery was shaking with anger as he glared. “I’d like to talk to my fiancée.”

  Theo went to say something, but Gen stopped him. “I’m not your fiancée, Montgomery. That’s over.”

  Theo’s head whipped to her as Montgomery said, “We don’t need to end this.”

  “Yes, we do.” She could feel Theo burning a hole in the side of her head with his gaze, but she held Montgomery’s. “You hurt me. I won’t be with someone who doesn’t believe in me. Trust me. Or above all, really love me. We’ve been comfortable. It’s been easy between us for whatever reason, maybe just ignoring the things we don’t like about each other, but I refuse to live like that. I want to be in love with someone who sets my soul on fire, and I’m sorry, you don’t do that, Montgomery.”

  Montgomery held her gaze, his eyes flashing with anger as he sneered, “But this guy does all that? I knew you weren’t over him—”

  “He has nothing to do with this. I made this decision before I saw him.”

  “So, that’s it?”

  She nodded. “That’s it.”

  “Did you even love me?”

  Gen’s eyes filled with tears. “I think so. Did you?”

  Looking away once more, Montgomery swallowed hard. “I did.”

  “Then I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “So you broke it off with him?” Theo asked, and she turned, nodding her head.

  “I did. I was gonna tell you today.”

  A grin pulled at Theo’s mouth as he took a step toward her. “You should have told me sooner so I could have done this.” And before she knew it, he held her face in his hands as he gave her the kind of kiss that would make a porn star blush. Holding on to his wrists, she didn’t fight it. She wanted it. She knew it was awful and rude to do in front of Montgomery, but she couldn’t help it. She was a victim of pure lust when it came to Theo. When they parted, their noses knocking, her soul sang for him as he grinned down at her.

  Pulling away, she went to apologize to Montgomery, but he was already walking away, and her heart sank. “You shouldn’t have done that in front of him.”

  “Why?” Theo asked, holding her hips in his hands. “He had to know that you’ve been mine all this time.”

  “Theo,” she said, looking up at him. “I did care for him. I may have even loved him at one time.”

  He didn’t like that, but he shrugged just the same, holding her gaze. “In the past. Now, we have the future. Now, listen—”

  But Gen shook her head. “No, I need to say something.”

  “Let me get this out first,” he asked, a playful grin on his face. “Genevieve, I’ve loved you my whole adult life, and I never want to stop. I know we’ve had some time apart, I know we aren’t the same damn people we were then, but surely you feel what I feel. That undeniable pull between us. We’re meant for each other, darling, you and me. And I know you just came out of a relationship, but I need you. Just you. While, for a long time, I didn’t think I was good enough for you, and I still may not be, I want to try, Genny. I’ve learned a lot about life since the moment we were ripped apart, and I’m ready. I love you. Mercy me, I love you so damn much, I can’t stand it.”

  She swallowed past the sob in her throat as she gazed up into his beautiful face. The face she had loved for as long as she could remember, the same face she’d missed more than her next breath. He was standing there. Ready.

  But she wasn’t.

  “I’m sorry—”

  “No,” he moaned. “You don’t love me? Really, Genny?”

  She held up her hand. “Can I finish?” He eyed her, taking a deep breath as he nodded. “Theo, I’m sorry, but I’m just not ready to jump back into something when I don’t even have my life together. I have to get my stuff, bring it here, and I just… I need time. I need time to figure out me, to fix whatever comes up, and to lick my wounds a bit. I mean, I was with him five years. That’s a long time.”

  Letting her go, he looked away as he swallowed. “Can we not do all that together? I can help.”

  “No, because if I come to you, I want to be whole. I want to be ready to be all in like you are right now.”

  Moving his hand down his face, he smacked his lips as he nodded in understanding. “All right. What can I help with?”

  She shook her head. “I have to do it myself.”

  He cleared his throat, and she could see the tears in his eyes. Silence fell between them, and she could feel the people watching them. They weren’t close, but they sure did want to know what was happening. When Theo looked back at her, he swallowed hard. “I can help move things, just call me. You have my number. It’s the Blu’s number.”

  “Okay.”

  “And you can stay as long as you need, until you get to wherever you’re going. Or if you want to stay with me, you’re welcome.”

  She reached out, taking his hand in hers. “I’m gonna rent Randy’s old place.”

  He nodded. “All right, then.” She squeezed his hand, and he looked down at her. “This blows.”

  She smiled. “It’s for the best.”

  “Because I do love you, Genevieve. I do.”

  “And I love you, Theo,” she whispered. “But I don’t like who I am at this moment in time.”

  He looked away once more. “When will you?”

  She shrugged. “A year? I don’t know.”

  Inhaling hard, he let it out slowly and nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  “There?”

  “In a year, with a ring.”

  “Theo,” she said, shaking her head.

  But he didn’t answer. Instead, he took her mouth with his and kissed her long and hard. She drank from him in the most succulent way that had her toes curling in her flip-flops. When he pulled away, he kissed her nose and then the side of her mouth. “I’ll see you around, and if you need anything, you know my number.”

  “I do.”

  “Are you good getting home? I’m going to the bar. I got a date with a bottle of McElroy.”

  She smiled as she nodded. “I’m fine. I’m gonna go for a walk.”

  “Cool, I’ll see ya.”

  “See ya.”

  He kissed her nose one last time and then walked away. As Gen watched him, she almost called him back, she did. They’d had so much time apart that she didn’t want any more, but she knew this was for the best.

  Not only for him, but for her too.

  Epilogue

  “So, what are you working on?”

  Gen looked over to where Delaney was lying across her couch, playing with her hair. When Gen had mov