Forged by Fire by Eddie Cleveland

“Listen to me, I never wanted to go with you, got it? Never. The only reason I said all that crap is because I was trying to get laid.”
I can see the last glimmers of hope dying out in her eyes like the fading streaks of rosy sunlight across the sunset. I want to shut my mouth. I want to tell her I’m lying. That I love her with my entire body, mind, and soul. But if I do that, if I tell her the truth, she may never get out of here.
She deserves more than that. She deserves more than me.
I’m the bad guy. The one who destroyed Karen Baker’s heart and sent her packing. I’ve had to live with that decision everyday for the past four years. I had to sacrifice my happiness for hers. I gave up our future together for a chance to live her dream.
Somehow life kept going. Years passed in a blur. I never expected to be voted in as the deputy fire chief of our department tonight and I definitely didn’t expect to see Karen walk in here. She looks like an angel. She’s so perfect, I wonder if I’m hallucinating.
But it’s not a dream. It’s real. She’s really back and she really hates me. I don’t have much time to try to explain how wrong I was, to get her back, to make her mine. Because when she leaves this time, it’ll be forever.