Say I'm Yours (The Hennington Brothers, #3)

by Corinne Michaels

“I’m done only being good enough when it’s convenient for you. I’m done being the girl who’s waitin’ around, hoping you’ll finally admit that you love her. I can’t do it anymore. You’re killing me.”

I know that hope is a fable, fiction written to replace the reality I wasn’t ready to face. I have to walk away. I need to let him go. Not because I don’t love him, but because this won’t ever change. I need change.

“I hope you find the girl that’s worth all of your heart, but I’m not her. I’ve tried to be.” A tear falls, and I let it. “Lord knows I have. I’ve given you everything I could while you haven’t given me anything but scraps. It’s wrecked me, and I can’t let you break me again. I love you. I’ve always loved you. You’re the only man I’ve ever pictured a life with.”

“I can be patient when it’s something worth being patient for.”

He’s embedded in my heart and soul. The only problem is his love doesn’t heal, it’s toxic, and I have to eradicate it before it kills me.

I was just sayin’ that sometimes our hearts lie to us about what’s really goin’ on. I think we want to see the good in everyone, and it can cloud our judgment.”

I step closer because for better or worse, Trent is worthy of love. “Promise me that you’ll find whatever it is you’re searching for.” He wipes the tear from under my eye. “I already had it, but I wasn’t smart enough to hold on to it.”

“You’re wrong, sweetheart. It was never about you not being what I wanted. It was me not knowing that what I had was everything I needed.”

“You take your love away and it hurts.”

I deserve a love like my parents have. I want you to come home to me, love me, build a life with me. You want a part-time lover and it ain’t me anymore.”

There are too many times I’ve gone back. Too many times I’ve taken his apology at face value. “I’ve heard this line before.” He steps closer, but I lift my hand. “Gracie.” “No. No you don’t get to do this to me again. You can’t promise me things that will never happen.” “I love you, Grace. I’ve always loved you. I love you, and I promise it’ll be different. I need you, sweetheart.” Those words. Those three words that I’ve waited forever to hear. Another scrap.

Cooper smiles and grazes his thumb across the top of my hand. “Have you ever wanted something and couldn’t have it? And then it’s so close, just within your grasp but not quite there. Either you can surrender or keep reaching. I’m not a man who gives up.”

“I’m here because I love you, you thick-headed, unwilling-to-listen, lovable idiot! I’m here because I choose you. I’ve always chosen you because I can’t imagine my life without you. I’m here because I love you so much my insides hurt no matter how many times I tell you that I shouldn’t keep runnin’ back.” He tenses, and I watch the shift in his gaze. “So, if you want to keep arguin’ about this, I’m happy to, but you said you love me, and I’m standin’ before you askin’ you to let me do the same.”

“I choose you. I didn’t choose Cooper. There really never was a choice. It’s been you since I was sixteen.”

“I need to hear it. I need you to mean it. I’m going to be needy. I’m going to question you. I’ve had almost twenty years of doubting us, can you handle that?” Trent’s hands move to my face. His eyes are sad and full of regret. “I did this to you. I hate that I did. I hate that I put any doubt in your head. You’re going to have to forgive me and I’m going to have to earn that. I know this, and it isn’t anything less than I deserve. I won’t do that to you again, Gracie. I won’t hurt you like that. I plan to tell you that I love you every day, because I do.”

“Say I’m yours,” he demands. I don’t hesitate. “You’re mine.” “Say you’re mine.” “I’ve only ever been yours.”

“Love isn’t always easy, baby girl. It takes a lot of work. Sometimes it fails, and sometimes you have to let it go to get it back.”

I want to make something that’s ours. The story we tell our kids won’t be as sweet as what your dad told us, but it’ll still be beautiful.”

“I don’t know who I am! I’ve always been a Hennington. Now, who the fuck am I? I don’t know who my father is. And my mother! She kept this from me. She lied to me for forty years. Both of them did.”

“Make me forget,” he pleads. “Make me forget like only you can. I don’t know who I am, and I need you to remind me.”

“You have been my greatest gift. I didn’t create you, but I got to keep you.”

There’s a helplessness that can eat at your soul before the grief has even started.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re my heart and soul. I never want to spend a day without you. I’m gonna ask you again . . . marry me?”

“Listen, there’s no give backs on that one. You bought him, so you have to fix whatever is defective.”

We don’t worry about the little things. It’s the people in my life that matter. They’re the foundation of the house I’m building in life. When things go bad, I know if I fall, I’ll be okay.