I Took His Prison Sentence. Now He Begs. novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Ben's POV: On My Knees

Ben's POV

I waited until the crew had gone home and the yard lights were off.

Willa was at the kitchen table with her hands around a mug that had gone cold.

She looked up when I came in.

I had practiced what to say on the drive back from the gate, and every word of it left me.

So I knelt.

I did it on the kitchen floor in front of her chair, on both knees, with my hands open on my thighs.

"Ben," she said. "Get up."

"No."

"You don't have to do this."

"I do." My voice came out rough. "I called you a murderer in front of her photograph, Willa. I did it while Carter sat free and you sat in a cell. I did it after you took three years that weren't yours."

She said nothing.

"I let you sleep behind a bolted door in my house, and I told myself you deserved it."

"You didn't know."

"I should have asked." I looked up at her. "I read your file nine times. I never once asked you what happened. I only asked it what I wanted to hear."

Her eyes were wet.

She did not move to touch me.

"I'm asking you to forgive me," I said. "I don't have a better way to say it. I'll say it on my knees every night if that's what you need."

The kitchen was very quiet.

Water moved against the pilings under the floor.

"No," Willa said.

It was soft, and it landed harder than anything Carter had ever said to me.

"No?"

"Not tonight." She set down the mug. "I love you for this. For the knees, for the floor, for the way your hands are shaking. I do."

I couldn't breathe.

"But I spent three years learning what it costs to say yes because a man is crying, Ben. I'm not going to say it to you. Not even to you."

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend