She exhales, running a hand through her hair, it gets tangled in the curls and she winces. “I don’t even know why we’re doing this.”
I should let it go.
But then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Zane across the deck. One hand curled around Becca’s waist, laughing at something she whispered in his ear.
The coil inside me pulls tighter.
“Listen,” I start, knowing full well I’m about to piss her off. “I don’t care what’s going on in your head, or what you’re still holding onto with him, but if you’re going to ignore me to sulk over your ex, at least give me a heads–up.”
Her arms fold across her chest, disbelief flickering across her face. “Excuse me?”
I sigh, swirling my drink. “You were fine playing that game with me. But the second it was him, you froze.”
“Because I loved him, Liam. When it’s with you I know it’s not real. It… you don’t mean anything to me.” She exhales sharply. I flinch. I don’t mean to, but I do. She’s too tipsy to notice. “And I knew what Becca was doing. She wanted a reaction.”
The words hit harder than they should. She says them like they‘ re just facts. My jaw clenches so tight it aches. I want to laugh, but the sound would come out broken. “Did she get one?”
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Her eyes narrow. “You’re impossible.”
No, you’re the impossible one.
Standing there like it didn’t just cost you nothing to say I mean less than some guy who already walked away from you.
Frustration crashes into me
–
sharp, hot, messy. It burns
through my chest and settles in my throat.
I drag a hand through my hair, gripping the strands at the back of my neck like I can pull the feelings out of me.
But they stay.
The anger. The sting.
The way her words keep echoing – You don’t mean anything to
- me.
God. I don’t even know why it hurts this much.
Except I do.
Because I want to mean something.
I want to be someone to her.
Someone important, someone valuable, someone who’ll have some sort of place in her heart.
Someone who she’ll think twice about before saying they mean nothing.
God, it hurts to think.
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“Emilia, you’re avoiding the question.”
—
Her eyes flash. “And you why do you care so much?”
“What? You think I’m jealous?”
She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t flinch. Just watches me like she already knows the answer.
I force out a laugh, lift my drink to my lips like I don’t feel like I’m coming undone. “Right. Because I so desperately wanted to be in his place.”
Her eyes flicker – something cracks there. Hurt, maybe. Guilt. But it’s gone too fast. Like she’s trained herself not to let me see it.
She lifts her chin. “You didn’t have a problem when it was you.”
My smirk comes automatically, but it’s all teeth and no warmth.
“That’s because I don’t mean anything to you, right?”
I say it lightly, but the words scrape on the way out.
Because they feel true.
And they shouldn’t.
I don’t want them to.
I look at her, waiting for her to deny it.
To say ‘that’s not what I meant‘, or ‘you’re wrong‘.
But she doesn’t.
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And that silence?
That silence punches harder than anything else she’s said tonight.
Her breath hitches.
For a second, she just looks at me. Then
“Exactly.”
The word is a blade.
And for some reason, it cuts.
I force out a laugh, shaking my head. “There’s still time to get your man back, ruin the wedding. Maybe even become his Mrs in the process
”
The slap comes fast and leaves a sharp sting in its wake.
I’ll be lying if I said I didn’t expect it.
My head jerks to the side.
I let out a slow breath, flexing my jaw as my cheek throbs.
Her hands are trembling,
The urge to take them in mine eats at me. But it’s not the time.. especially when I’m the one who made them like that.
Her eyes are filled with tears I didn’t see when I looked away.
She hides her hands behind her back but it’s too late. I already
saw.
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Shit.
“You’re nothing but an entitled asshole,” she spits, voice shaking. “Who are you to judge me? Or make assumptions about me?”
She lets out a harsh laugh, rubbing her palm where it met my face. “You don’t do relationships, right? Too afraid to feel something real? Maybe I’m this slut in your head, ready to steal another girl’s man, but at least I let myself love. It’s no wonder Mar and Elijah can’t stand you. I don’t know how you stand yourself.”
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