Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Noah
Shock couldn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling at seeing Nicky on his knees. Before I could step back, he wrapped his arms around my middle, pushing his face against my stomach.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured over and over again.
“It’s not enough.” I didn’t want to end this, but I also couldn’t give in that easily either.
“I know,” his voice cracked.
My throat worked over a hard lump. “Stand up, Nicky. Please stand up.”
He shook his head, tightening his hold on my body.
I wiggled out of his grip, lowering to my knees in front of him. Cupping his cheek, I ran my thumb along his full mouth. “We can’t go back to how things were.”
“This isn’t because of Veronica…” When his voice trailed off, I let out a soft sigh.
“No, not at all. What we did with her was fun. I think it was something we all needed because who knows if we would be where we are now if it wasn’t for her.”
Nicky cupped my hand that was resting against his cheek. He kissed my palm, linked our fingers, and brought our joined hands down to his lap.
Leaning his forehead against mine, he cleared his throat a few times.
He was nervous and didn’t know what to say.
Well, neither did I. A part of me wanted to give in, so we could move on.
But another part, the stronger part, needed him to know that it would take more than a few apologies to earn my trust again.
“Can we at least be friends?” he asked, finally breaking the silence between us.
I lifted my head, staring at him. “Yes,” I whispered. I hoped that we could eventually be more again but for right now, this would have to do.