Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Against her heated skin, I whisper, “I don’t want you to discover how pathetic I am. How I grasped for something to force me to get over you. How I agreed to things because I was too overwhelmed to get through it all. I’m embarrassed, baby.” She tenses at my words. “Just let me do this on my own.”
She brings her hands up between us, grabbing my jaw in her fingers before pulling my head back from her neck. Her eyes meet mine, protectiveness and wrath swirling in them. Her lips are pressed tightly together as she searches my eyes. “I would never think you pathetic, Quinn. You’re a good guy, a sweet guy, and I know you were only trying to help. She took advantage of you—”
I shake my head, cutting off her words. “We both used each other.”
She narrows her eyes. “Tell me what is going on. Help me understand so I can help you.”
I lean my head to hers, kissing her nose. “Please, Em, let me do this on my own.”
“But you don’t have to anymore,” she pleads, stroking my jaw with her thumb. “I’m here.”
“But you weren’t there before, when I did this.” I’m not trying to hurt her or even to be an asshole, but I can see the hurt flash in her eyes. She tries to move away, but I don’t allow her to. I shake my head, bringing her in so I can brush my lips against hers. “I didn’t say that to hurt you. I said it to remind you that this is my doing. I have to find a way out. No one can help me. I made this bed. I have to figure out how to lie in it.” When a tear spills over her bottom lashes, I knit my brows even tighter. “Em, why are you crying? Don’t.”
I catch the tear as her bottom lip trembles. “Because if I hadn’t have been so scared, you wouldn’t be in this position.”
Fuck. I cuddle her in closer, tangling my fingers into the back of her hair as I hold her face to my chest. I kiss her temple, the top of her head, before nuzzling my nose in her wet curls. Her smell intoxicates me, but I still can’t correct her. I did use the situation Ava offered me to get over Emery. I thought being tied to someone for a year would force me to forget her. Would give me something to distract myself. Music wasn’t doing it. My family wasn’t. Nothing. By the time I realized that Ava wasn’t going to be the one to distract me, I was in too deep.
I’m still in too deep.
I don’t know what I am going to do or how I’m going to convince Ava to call this off, but the woman in my arms is reason enough to say fuck it all.
I wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass when I told her she is the reason I am happy.
She is, and I can’t lose her a second time.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Emery
I’ve chewed off all my nails.
And the nail polish.
But it was inevitable, given how deep I dug.
I’m surprised I didn’t make it to China.
I know Quinn told me to leave it alone. I know he said to let him take care of it.
But when the hell do I ever listen?
I spent all morning digging until I had all the answers I needed.
I matched the picture from Yvette’s Instagram to one of Ava’s posts with the same nail polish. And I hadn’t noticed before, but I also found a matching thumb of gold stacked rings in the photo. I’d thought it was Yvette’s thumb, but I quickly found out it wasn’t. When I got into the Mettisons’ lawyer’s database, I unearthed Ava’s inheritance and the stipulations. I know what Quinn is doing. I don’t know what he has planned, but I have a plan of my own.
I’m not upset with Quinn; I’m not even surprised. As I said, I knew he wanted to help someone, and this was his opportunity to do so. I don’t know what he was gaining from this since he could have gotten a job anywhere with his grades. I know that Dr. Abrams is a highly sought-after sports ortho surgeon. But we’re in Nashville, Tennessee; Quinn could have gone anywhere and been better than Abrams in ten years. There has to be more. I’m going to find out what it is, and then I’m going to fix it.
It will be my ultimate Hail Mary to prove to Quinn I’m sorry and I love him.
I swallow as my heart beats so hard, I can feel it in my ears. My leg is crossed, but it bounces wildly as my coffee sits untouched before me. While I wait, I scroll through my phone, but then I get a notification that Quinn Adler has posted a new video. My heart flips since it’s been over a week since he posted. I click on the notification, and it takes me to his TikTok. I scrunch up my face when I realize he’s not in his studio, nor does he even have his equipment like he usually does. It’s just him, in his burgundy scrubs, with a guitar that’s not even his.