CHAPTER NINE
Fallon
KYE’S ENTIRE FORM FROZE. HE DIDN’T MOVE, DIDN’T brEATHE, and for a second, I thought his heart might’ve stopped altogether.
“Marry you?” he croaked.
I couldn’t deny that his total and complete shock stung a bit. I understood it logically, but some part of me was still that fourteen-year-old girl Kye had given her first kiss. And some part of me, more than I wanted to acknowledge, was still in love with him.
It didn’t matter how hard I’d tried to move on—dates, boyfriends—none of them ever felt right. Eventually, I’d given up. Because I realized I’d rather be alone than keep searching for something that could never be what I’d had, even for that flicker of a moment.
I stared into those shocked amber eyes. “Yes.”
The single word startled Kye into moving again. He paced across the patio, his scarred boots threatening to wear a path in the concrete. “Explain.”
It was a command, not a question, but I didn’t blame him for it. “Rose said having a partner could help. Two caregivers in the home instead of one. Another stable force for the girls.”
Kye’s dark brows pulled together thunderously. “Okay …”
My fingers twisted in the hem of my shirt, trembling as they did. “Well, everyone knows we’re close. And I’m kind of what they’d be looking for on paper. I majored in child psychology in college, have a master’s degree in social work, work for DHS, and have plenty of experience with kids.”
“And you come from the most well-respected family in town,” Kye finished for me.
I stiffened. “So do you.”
Kye stilled mid-stride. “You know it’s not the same. People don’t see me as coming from the Colsons. They see me as someone the Colsons took pity on.”
Anger and sadness warred in equal measure, but anger quickly won out.
“The hell you are. You were dealt one of the worst hands I’ve ever seen.
Your family betrayed you in ways I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Yet you found a way to overcome it. You turned your life around.
You built two incredible businesses. You give kids a safe place to grow and gain confidence.
You’ve taken everything you’ve been through and turned it into something good. ”
My breaths came in ragged pants as I struggled to get enough air into my lungs.
“Sparrow …”
“Let me do this for you. For them,” I pleaded.
Kye searched my eyes. “And what? Give up the rest of your life?”
I shifted from foot to foot. “It doesn’t have to be forever. Just until you have permanent custody. Maybe a little longer so neither of us gets charged with fraud.”
Kye stared at me for a long moment and then shook his head. “No. I’m not putting you at risk like that.”
“You’re not putting me at risk. This is my idea. My choice. And you have to trust me to make decisions for myself.” A little of my anger returned.
“Your family will freak,” he muttered.
“Our family. And no, they won’t. Be a little shocked? Sure. But no freaking involved.”
“Okay, our family. Which people will see as twisted and weird.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “You came to live with us when you were sixteen, not six. We went to school together before then. We tell people we knew each other back then but downplayed our connection.”
So much swirled in Kye’s eyes—pain and faintest flickers of hope. “Sparrow …”
Pressure pulsed along my sternum, and I struggled not to rub the spot. “We just need to tell them the truth, and no one will think twice about it.”
God, it hurt to say that. To voice what had almost been and think about letting people into that.
“For my sisters,” Kye rasped.
“For your sisters,” I echoed.
His hands fisted at his sides, the ink rippling across his fingers. “If we do this …nothing can happen between us. Not a damn thing.”
Kye might as well have reached out and slapped me. It would’ve hurt less. That the idea of touching me was so disgusting to him that he needed to place such a harsh barrier between the two of us.
“You’re killing me, Sparrow.” He stepped forward, and I moved back. The thought of him touching me now—out of pity—was more than I could bear.
Kye halted any forward movement, his hand flexing, then clenching at his side.
“It’s not because I don’t want to. I’ve been dreaming of you since I was sixteen.
You’ve been my one spark of light in the hellish dark.
The only good thing in my life. But I won’t risk losing you or the family you gave me.
Because I’m sure of one thing: I’ll fuck this up.
And I’m not ruining the only good in my life because of it. ”
And with that, he stalked back inside the studio, leaving me alone with the bomb he’d just detonated, blowing up everything I thought I knew.