You Will Be Mine (Forever and Ever #7)(48)

It was always just me.

Then I replayed the last three months in my mind. She hadn’t called or reached out to me. She let me suffer in unspeakable pain. I could barely get out of bed every morning. I cried in the shower because I couldn’t control my emotions.

Slade stood up slowly and watched me.

“Why are you telling me this and not her?” I whispered.

“She doesn’t know I’m here…she refused to tell you herself. Trinity intervened and came to me.”

“So…she still wants me to believe her lie?” My teeth ground together.

“Yeah…” He watched me with a worried expression.

The fact all this pain could have been avoided made my skin burn in anger. The fact she threw us away and made me believe such a lie made me want to destroy my building. I could have gone the rest of my life not knowing the truth.

How could she do this?

I marched up the stairs and to my door.

“What are you doing?” Slade asked.

I stormed into my apartment and practically sprinted into my room.

“Whoa…what happened?” Mitchell said.

Slade came behind me then walked into my bedroom. “What are you doing?”

I grabbed a bag and stuffed it with whatever clothes I could find. “What does it look like I’m doing?” I snapped. “I’m going back to New York to give her a piece of my mind.” I turned to him and gripped my skull. “She can’t break my heart like this and get away with it. No, it doesn’t work like that.” I was screaming at Slade even though he did nothing wrong. “She’s not getting away with it.” I zipped up my bag and stormed past him.

Slade wordlessly followed me.

“What the hell is going on?” Mitchell stood up.

“Cayson will be back in a few days,” Slade explained.

“We got rotations tomorrow.” Mitchell crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m not going!” I walked out the front door then slammed it so hard it broke the door handle.

“Eh, I’ll replace that.” Slade came after me.

I headed to the airport, my heart pounding and my insides burning.





Chapter Twelve


Conrad


I was sitting on my couch drinking a beer when someone knocked on my door. I turned off the TV then looked through the peephole.

Beatrice was on the other side, wearing a red scarf with a black pea coat. My heart accelerated every time I saw her. Excitement flushed through me and I opened the door quickly. “Hey.”

“Hi.” She gave me a warm smile. “Sorry to barge in…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re welcome to come over whenever you want.”

“Thanks.” She stepped inside then I closed the door behind her. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“Just drinking and watching TV.”

“Sounds productive,” she teased.

“Hey, men will be men, right?”

“So if you came over and I was sipping tea and knitting, you would say women will be women?”

“Actually, I would ask when you had your seventy-fifth birthday. Knitting and drinking tea?”

She laughed. “I guess I’ve always been an old soul.”

“Wait, you actually knit?”

She felt her scarf with her fingers. “Yep.”

“Wow, that’s cool.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really.” I sat on the couch. “So what brings you here? Want to watch a movie?”

She sat beside me then got uncomfortable. She fidgeted in place, her hands constantly moving. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something…”

“Okay.” I patiently waited for her to speak. In the deep recesses of my heart, I hoped she wanted to ask me out on a date, or something more intimate than what we normally did. After talking to Theo, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a chance for something more.

“Deana is having a Valentine’s Day party and she’s making me go. It’s a singles thing where you show up and play games to find your most suitable partner…”

Where was this going?

“I was hoping you’d go with me—as my date.”

My heart jumped to life but I tried to contain it. I didn’t want to get my hopes up then crash and burn. “Because…?”

“I just want to be left alone. If people think you’re my boyfriend, they won’t bother me.”

“I can act like your boyfriend.” I said it a little too willingly.

‘Thanks.” She crossed her legs and stopped fidgeting with her hands.

“Were you planning on staying?”

“If I’m welcome.”

“You’re always welcome,” I said. “Want to watch a movie?”

“Sure.”

“We already watched all of Star Wars but we can find something else.”

“How about a Disney movie?” she asked.

“The Lion King?”

“That’s my favorite,” she said with wide eyes.

“What do you know? Mine too.” I popped the move in then we sat on the couch and watched it. She grabbed herself a water then returned to the couch. But this time, she moved to the seat directly next to me.