Chapter seventeen

Summer’s POV:

Hearing him mention the letters instantly made my body tense up. Why was he suddenly bringing this up, after ignoring me for all those years? I stood up, and I could feel myself blushing. Suddenly, the cold clearing felt very, very warm. Marcus also stood.

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, or leave. I just want to tell you my side of the story, that way maybe you will understand why I pushed you away. If you want me to shut up, I will. Just stay.”

I examined his face for a while. He seemed genuinely apologetic, and of course, I was still deeply hurt by his rejection. Maybe hearing him out would be a good thing… I sat back down, but he didn’t. He started pacing around the fire, and the words just started flowing out of my mouth:

“You knew… All this time, you knew. And yet, you kept hurting me, demeaning me. You made me feel worthless, every time I saw you with a different girl…”

“No… that’s not what… You don’t understand… It’s complicated…”

He was still pacing, gro