Fumbled Hearts (Tender Hearts #1)

by Meagan Brandy

Guess I figured if she really truly didn’t care about you, then she’d suck it up and grace us with her presence when she felt like it, on her own time. The only way she knows.” I avert my eyes, ashamed. “I don’t know if she left right then, if she stayed, waiting…hoping someone would come to her. I… I don’t know.”

“No matter what happened between you guys, Nate, you helped her heal. Helped her realize that there was still more out there worth experiencing. I’m sure she’ll be a little lost for a while, but she’ll have a good life because of you.”

“Son, listen to me. What your mom and I have…” His dark brows raise and he nods. “It’s special. As sad as it is, most people who have been married, or together as long as we have, don’t have that zing anymore. They don’t get their breath stolen from their lungs when their wives first step outta bed, get lost in her eyes when she looks up at them, or blinded by her smile.” I wish he’d stop talking. I palm at my chest. “Yeah,” he chuckles to himself. “What we have is really something.” He locks his eyes on mine. “But what you and Lolli have?” He raises a brow and I frown at him. “That’s once in a lifetime. Once.” “Dad-” “I’m dead serious, son. I’ve never witnessed the kind of connection you two have. Hell, I’m not even sure I believed in it until she came along.” He shakes his head. “It’s almost too much to watch you two together. You’re so attuned to one another, it’s as if you’re one person. You

know what she needs without her telling you. You have deep, meaningful moments with just your eyes.” “Dad-” “And when that girl laughs, I swear to God, I can see it leave her and run through you. You live for it. For her.”

“‘Cause I sure as hell do. I think this is how it was all supposed to happen. Your lives have been mixed and intertwined for years without your knowledge, but the universe knew you two weren’t ready for each other then. You needed to live,

Nate. To screw up a bit before she came to you. Otherwise, you’d have never seen her worth, her particular type of perfection. Without your regret, you’d never have had something, or someone, to be better for.

“And, as messed up as it is, she needed to see what life was lacking, experience pain and loss, and figure out her own way of handling it before she had you to lean on. Or else she never would have needed you, never would have searched your soul for her safe place. She’d have gone through life taking it only as it came, never trul...

I didn’t want to be typical to her. I wanted to be all she could ever want and more. I wanted to be her everything, like she quickly and without my knowledge, became

mine. And I was so sure I succeeded. I was so sure she felt me with every cell in her body, like I do her.

“what’ll be worse? Finding out it was true, that she didn’t love you? Or never knowing for sure, always wondering if you still hold a piece of her, like she always will for you?”

“She was made for you, Nathaniel. The other piece of your soul. She came to you, was given to you, when you were ready for her, when you needed her. Way I see it, things are coming around now. It was only right something happened now, to test you, like she was tested.” My gaze returns to his and he gives a resolute nod. “It’s your turn now. Go to her when she needs you most.

“Look, I need to know what the hell happened, if only for my own sanity. And if I have to face it,”

“Make her think it was over and done, and no one was looking for the answers anymore, so you don’t have to live with the fact that you fucked both your girl, and mine, in the same night? Figuratively speaking, though, right?” Nate’s steps even closer and Jarrod’s body starts to shake with rage. “’Cause everyone knows my girl never wanted you.”

She loves him. Kalani is in love with him. This means she didn’t, she wouldn’t have- Wait. I hop out of the car and he follows.

“To find out where she is. I’m gonna go to her and beg her to forgive me; to keep me.”

Nate opened up every piece of me, forcing me to feel every single nerve in my body. Every beat in my heart. And now I can’t forget it. Can’t turn it off.

don’t know where the line of deception and deceit meets loyalty and faithfulness, but I never pretended to know how a relationship worked. With Nate, I learned daily how to be with someone I cared about, but that doesn’t mean I knew how to act in a moment of panic and tested trust. I didn’t know that meant that staying and fighting, demanding to understand, was what I was supposed to do. I was so used to the fallout; I didn’t know reconciliation was even an option. All I knew was bad shit happened and you dealt with it. My newfound emotions got the best of me, so I shut that shit down, made a bad move, and walked away without a fight, without showing him he was worth it. Worth more.

He may have not given me a chance that night, but I

failed him in that moment, just as much as he failed me.

I made her promise not to tell a soul. Even if he didn’t come to her, she couldn’t go to him. She didn’t understand; not many people would, I guess. But I needed Nate to be the one to seek answers. I needed him to need me, as senseless as it may seem. Reluctantly, she agreed.

“I need to see those blues, baby.”

“I suspected it as soon as I allowed myself to hope. Once I stopped running from the pain, I realized what I knew meant what I thought wasn’t possible.”

“You love me. I knew it before you did, and felt it grow stronger every day. I knew you wanted my happiness as much as I wanted yours, and you’d never throw away what we had. I knew you craved

me, like I you.” When her lips start to tremble, I lean my forehead against hers. “Once I realized all that, I knew you’d have fought for me. There was no way you wouldn’t figure out what really happened once you allowed yourself to think about it. And I knew you’d think about it because you can’t shut me out. You’ve never been able to shut me out.” I wipe away the tears that run down her cheeks. “Do you know why that is, Kalani?” I whisper and she shakes her head no.

“Because my heart beats in your chest, and yours in mine. We’re blended in each other in deeper w...

“I need you to know I understand. I get it. I also need you to know how sorry I am for not coming sooner.” She tries to interrupt, but I don’t let her. “I never should have allowed my mind to get clouded. I should have marched straight to your room and demanded answers.” “I should have come to you when I found out. Should have fought for you.”

“You did fight for me.” When her brows pull in, I explain, “Baby, you made my being here right now possible. You put it all together and found the

answers I was too afraid to look for. I know you reached out to Ashley long before I did, or she never would have had what I needed ready and waiting when I approached her the other night. You made this moment happen. You think Parker would have brought me to you had I not known the truth ahead of time?” I tease to help relieve some o...

“I’m glad you didn’t come to me, Kalani. I needed to be the one to open my eyes and see. I failed you that night. Not the other way around.” I squeeze her ch...

“Never gonna be alone, remember?”

“I’m not going anywhere. Ever. I’m gonna stay with you, love you, forever.”

“Ready to show me what forever feels like?”

Tilting her head up, she looks into my eyes, then she squeezes my hand. Because she’s here; she’s got me. And she does, all of me. Everything I am, everything I have or will have, is already hers. This girl. This blue-eyed, black-haired girl, who had no one and wanted nothing, chose me. She let me in, let me love her. And she loves me back just as hard. She’s my everything and I’m her only. I squeeze her tighter, pulling her closer. “I love you, baby.”