Page 81 of Blame it on the Kiss
Forget a juice cleanse. This was going to work way faster.
It had to.
Not that she had any delusions of falling out of love with Bryce in the next hour. Which really sucked. There should be a love switch. Or a clapper! Clap on—I love you. Clap off—Not anymore!
But maybe she could forgive herself for her mistakes.
She pumped her arms faster and concentrated on her stride. The beach stretched for miles. She could—would—make this happen. Her sanity obviously depended on it. Who in their twenties knew what the heck a clapper was?
She increased her pace. Her feet slapped the sand. She wiped her forehead, the first beads of sweat finally wetting her skin. With every deliberate stride, she blanked her mind and focused on the shoreline. Nothing else.
“Honor?”
Her gaze flew to the jogger about to pass her by. She stopped. He stopped. A weight plunged from the back of her throat to the pit of her stomach.
“Lance?”
“Yeah.”
They looked awkwardly at one another as if they had no idea how to act. “Hi,” she finally said, catching her breath with her hands on her thighs.
“It’s good to see you,” Lance said.
“It is?” she asked surprised.
He palmed the back of his neck. “I was actually hoping I’d run into you while I was here. I wanted to apologize,” he said.
“What?” she squeaked out, lifting her torso.
“I said some pretty awful things to you the last time we saw each other and …” His gaze dropped to the sand. He toed the granules with his shoe.
“I deserved what you said,” she whispered.
He looked up, his kind blue eyes just like she remembered them. “No, you didn’t. I was hurt, yeah. But I wasn’t an idiot. I knew I was pushing you for something you weren’t ready for. What I did?” He took a deep breath. “I did to hurt you more than myself.”
She shivered, from the cool breeze or his admission, she didn’t know for sure. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted to punish you. I wanted everyone to hate you. That night at prom, all the guys teased me and wouldn’t let up on the jokes. I snapped.”
“Lance—”
“I was the guy who had it all. My first choice college, the cool car, the best girlfriend. What I wasn’t, was as mature as I thought I was. The stunt I pulled proved that.”
“I still hurt you. Messed you up.”
“You didn’t mess me up. That was my college girlfriend. She cheated on me.”
Wait. What?
“I was pissed at you, Honor. Even hated you for a while. But what happened is on me, not you, and I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
Honor’s balance wobbled. “I’m sorry, too.”
“I know. You told me that day, but I didn’t want to hear it.” He took a breath. “I, uh, proposed to my girlfriend last night. She said yes. She’s amazing and she loves me. Faults and all.”
“That’s…” Goosebumps broke out on Honor’s arms. “That’s great. Congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
