All Chapters of Too Late To Beg: Chapter 61 - Chapter 64

TAMSIN The rest of the picnic passed in a haze of forced smiles and hollow pleasantries. I sat on that blanket, watching the waves roll in with their eternal rhythm, listening to James tell stories designed to make Hannah laugh, and felt as though I were observing the scene from somewhere far away. Hannah's words kept circling through my mind like vultures over carrion. Good men like James are hard to find. Appreciate what you have before you lose it. Do not let your marriage be ruined by outsiders. Each sentiment perfectly calculated to make me feel guilty for wanting something other than what I had been given. I kept checking my phone, though I could not have said what I was hoping to find there. Leo had stopped calling. Stopped texting. I had made it abundantly clear that I wanted nothing to do with him, and apparently he had finally listened. Which was good. Which was what I wanted. So why did the silence feel like another loss piled on top of all the others? "Tamsin?

TAMSIN I pushed James away with more force than I intended, breaking the kiss so abruptly he stumbled backward half a step. "James, please leave," I said, my voice coming out sharper than the champagne buzz could entirely explain. "Come on, Tamsin." He moved closer again, undeterred by my rejection. "You know what is in my heart, do you not? You know how I feel about you. Why are you being this way?" And then he started. The flowery words. The sweet nothings. The declarations of undying devotion delivered in that smooth, practiced tone that had once made my heart flutter and now just made me feel queasy. I stood there staring at him, still slightly dizzy from the alcohol, wondering how I had arrived at this particular moment in my life. James moved closer and kissed me again. I was about to push him away when he pulled back on his own, his hands coming up to frame my face with a gentleness that felt almost genuine. "Give me a chance, Tamsin," he said softly. "Please. I am beg