And I would. He was the first boy I ever loved, gave myself to, and trusted to keep me safe, which he did. This moment was the only thing about us that I would regret. However, I knew it was the right choice. Grayson was destined for greatness, and he wouldn’t achieve it if I was around.

Not only that, I needed to leave here. I couldn’t stay and be like my mother. I couldn’t love a man, give up my dreams, and then be left when he realized I wasn’t enough.

“Don’t do this. Don’t walk away. We’ll figure it out.”

“I have a plane ticket for Massachusetts. I’m leaving tonight.”

He stepped toward me. “Tonight? You knew? You . . . you came here, we just . . . and you’re leaving?”

I needed him. I needed the memory of us and all the love we shared. I was a coward, and even knowing that, I didn’t care. Grayson Parkerson owned my heart, but it was time I owned my future.

“I know I promised you a lot and that I’m letting you down. I’m sorry. I have to go, and I have to try to find myself.”

His hands balled into fists and then released. “Fine. I’m here, trying to fight to keep you when it’s clear you don’t want me to. I want to fight and win and keep you!”

The last sixty minutes had been the hardest time in my life. I came to tell him goodbye, and ended up in his arms, kissing, touching, making love, and that was when I knew that it had to be now.

“I guess some things just aren’t meant to be won in a fight.”

Neither of us had a clue what life really was or the hardships that lay ahead. Naivety is a gift for the young. We allowed it to cloak us in ignorance and make us believe things were so much easier than they really were.

Not that I feel I was ever as blissfully ignorant as the Parkersons were. They lived in their gilded castle with new cars and heat each month. Where I swept the floor and learned that duct tape really could fix anything if you tried enough and wearing layers warded off the chill.

With Grayson, though, I was never cold, and that scared me more than anything. My mother once lived in that state of dependence.

I would not be her.

“Maybe not won, but cherished isn’t such a bad thing,” I say, not wanting to go back to something I can’t fix.

His lip quirks, and then he stands, pulling the covers up over me. “No, it’s not a bad thing.” He leans in, kissing my forehead tenderly. “Rest, and if you need anything, I’m just a call away.”