“Do you mean that?” Ellis asked, his eyes widening.
I took his hand and nodded. “You protected me, got hurt for me, and seeing you like this…” I trailed off as hot tears sprang to my eyes.
Sniffling, I squeezed Ellis’ hand. He tried to sit up and I propped up some pillows behind him so he wasn’t lying flat.
“Olivia, I never should have let you walk away that day. There is so much I want to tell you and I will explain everything,” he said, a slight frown on his lips as he spoke.
“Don’t worry about that right now,” I said. “I realized you really do care for me, regardless of how we came together.”
“Of course, I care about you!” he said. He squeezed my hand and winced, bringing his free hand to his shoulder and gently rubbing over the bandage.
“I should have realized that sooner. I was silly to think…” I trailed off with a shrug. It hadn’t been silly for me to be upset. Ellis had lied to me. But I could see past that now, knowing he’d protect me against anything.