75

Alaric stiffened, and all the amusement and warmth in his eyes disappeared. His shoulders squared, and he retracted his hand from her face, and she let out a silent gasp.

“I never should have come to your room that night. It was a disgraceful thing I did, and I’m deeply ashamed of myself, and I apologize.” He lamented, taking a step away from her. The shame hanging on his shoulders was almost visible, and he avoided staring at her face.

“You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Layla said, frowning as she stood up from her chair.

“You don’t need to cover up for me, Layla. I know what I did was horrible, after all the trust you put in me.” He insisted, shaking his head and taking a step away from her as she walked to him. “I took advantage of you—”

“Stop saying that. You didn’t take advantage of me.” She hissed, glaring at him. Why wasn’t he listening to her? It was annoying that he kept blaming himself and wouldn’t just hear what she had to say.

“Yes, I did. I—”

“I