Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 529(@300wpm)
“Okay, so truce,” I suggest, shying away from his hug. “Since you’re living here and I guess we’ll see each other a lot.”
“Yeah, we’re going to see each other a lot.” Pure confusion twists his handsome features, then the realization that we’re not back together slips over his expression. “Wait. You still don’t…I’m home. I’m not leaving. I love you. What’s the problem?”
How can he not see what happened?
“You hurt me! And I know that’s not fair. I know you didn’t mean to.” Burning with frustration, I wave my hands in the air, unable to find the right words. I wasn’t prepared to do this today. “You thought you were helping but you ruined us.”
His jaw drops. “I ruined us?”
He really doesn’t understand? “You made the choice to leave and be on that show. I barely had a chance to understand what it meant before you left. I wasn’t prepared for what happened. It made my life hell, Griff. And you weren’t here.”
“I wasn’t prepared either, Molly.”
“Yeah, but you chose to be a part of it. I didn’t.”
“You, you,” he sputters. “You said you were on board!”
“Because I had no choice!” I lower my voice and force some calm into my words. “I wanted to support you. I didn’t want to be a part of that circus.”
“I didn’t know it was going to go down like that.”
Calm leaves my body in a violent rush. “But you should have!” I explode. “You didn’t look into that company even a little bit before you signed their stupid contract. How could you not see that it would expose our lives to the whole world?”
“I thought—”
“I know what you thought.” I take a breath and try to speak like a rational human. “But even once you knew what was happening, the lies they were telling, you still didn’t come home. Remy told you what happened. I know you talked to him.” My voice breaks. It still hurts so much that he didn’t just leave. “And you chose to stay.”
“Molly.” His voice roughens with emotion. “I tried. I couldn’t leave without losing everything. I don’t mean the time I wasted on the show or the prize money. They threatened to sue me and keep me going back to court for years if I broke that contract.”
Too choked up to say anything, I shake my head.
“So that’s it?” He sounds so defeated I want to hug him, but instead I move farther away. “You hate me now?”
No matter how mad or hurt I am, I can’t let him think that. I lift my gaze and stare into his sorrowful eyes. “No, of course not.”
“But you don’t love me?”
“I didn’t say that either,” I whisper. “But it’s not enough.”
“What else is there?”
“If you really wanted to come home, you would’ve found a way.” I swallow over a painful lump. “You chose the show over us. Over you and me.”
“It’s not that simple.” His jaw tightens. “I couldn’t pick up and leave without facing real consequences. If you can’t understand that, then maybe you’re too immature to be in a relationship.”
Ouch, calling me immature pokes at every single one of my insecurities about us as a couple.
“Maybe you’re right.” I lift my chin and try to hide how much that comment hurt. “But staying had consequences too.” I suck in a sharp, painful breath. “You lost me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Griff
Molly’s stubborn streak runs deep. Always has.
But she’s not wrong.
Neither am I.
I step closer. “Is that how you really feel?”
She lifts her chin, staring me in the eyes. Bold and beautiful. But her bottom lip wobbles, betraying her bravery. “Yes.”
“You know I never meant to hurt you. Embarrass you. Or anything like that.”
She glances away. Toward the door. Her eyebrows draw down. Like she wishes she’d never come home. “What do you want from me?”
I want you to love me again.
Or admit she never stopped.
“I want you to talk to me,” I say instead. “Tell me about college. Do you like your classes? Do you have a roommate? Are you happy there?”
“Yes, yes, and…” She hesitates, frowns again. “I guess so.”
“You don’t sound so sure about that last one.”
She shakes her head and glances at her sneakers. Her shoulders lift. “I thought I’d be happier getting away from here.”
“Something new like that. It’s a big adjustment.”
“I never realized how much I like my…space.” She sighs. “I kinda hate the whole communal bathroom thing and the dining hall.”
“Yeah? Too crowded?”
“Sometimes.” She finally shifts her gaze to me again. Her defensive posture relaxes. “I like Denise—my roommate—but we don’t have a lot in common. And all the other girls on my floor…it’s like it’s the first time they’ve been away from home, so they kinda act like children? They can stay up and be loud all night because Mom and Dad aren’t around to scold them?”