Maybe. Maybe not. I wasn’t sure that I owed Gavin anything, but…I did owe Kiera something. And as long as she promised not to talk back to him, I didn’t really see the harm in letting her read them. It wouldn’t change the fact that I wasn’t going to read them. My stomach still twisted into knots, though, as I slowly handed her the phone.

She smiled as she took it. Then she held it in her palm and exaggerated the fact that she wasn’t going to type anything. I appreciated that. To avoid accidentally seeing what she was reading, I studied her face while she studied my phone. The emotions I saw there were almost as bad as reading the texts though. Her face scrunched in pain, her eyes watered, and she bit her lip like she was trying to hold back a sob. What the hell was he saying to make her look like that?

When a tear finally fell onto her cheek, I couldn’t take the curiosity anymore. “What…what did he say?” I asked. Then I instantly wished I hadn’t. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. Except…I did care. Too much. Way too much. Maybe that was the real reason why I’d allowed his messages to continue. Why I’d never deleted them.

Kiera sighed, shook her head, and handed me the phone. I put it away without looking at it, and Kiera’s sad eyes lifted to my face. “He just wants a chance to explain. He wants to get to know you.” Her hand came up to gently rest on my cheek. “He regrets leaving you, Kellan.”

The sudden assault on my heart was too much. I nodded as my eyes began stinging. Her words kept repeating in my brain. He wants to explain, wants to get to know you…he regrets leaving you. Well, we all had regrets. That was just life. It didn’t mean anything. I tried to swallow back the ache, but it wouldn’t leave me. I swallowed multiple times, then finally stood up, needing movement. “I should get going.” I should stop thinking, stop feeling…stop resisting? Could I do that?

I was lost in that thought—in the thought of actually talking to Gavin—when I heard Kiera call my name. “Kellan.” I stopped in the doorway to look back at her. She was lying down on my bed again, looking completely comfortable wrapped in my sheets. I smiled, staring at her perfect beauty.

“I just wanted to wish you luck on the end of your tour, and tell you…” She paused to chew on her lip. It was adorable, sensual, playful, and seeing it made my smile grow. God, I was lucky. Giggling, she finished with, “I’ll be here when you get back.”