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“What happened?”
My mom swallowed hard. “They don’t need me at Cliff Point anymore. They’re letting me go.”
“What?” Dread lurched through me, followed quickly by anger. This had to be Colette’s doing. That bitch.
“Apparently Beckett thinks I’ve been snooping around his room. After I told Mrs. Linton about those drugs, I can hardly deny it. I wonder why they waited so long to let me go.” My mom sank down at the kitchen table. She looked like someone had taken out her batteries.
“I’m sure it’s not about that,” I tried to tell her, sitting beside her and rubbing circles on her back.
“It is. Mrs. Linton said so.”
I paused. “Mrs. Linton said it was because of Beckett?”
My mom nodded. “He feels uncomfortable with me around, considering what happened over the summer. It makes sense, I guess.” She nibbled at her lip. “How am I going to replace that income?”
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. I can give you The Dunes’ tips, they’re great.”
“No, I won’t take your money. You need it for school.”
“No, I don’t right now. It’s just temporary anyway, until you find something else. Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” I sat there at the table, comforting my mom while I worked to hide how upset I was.
I managed to calm her down and make it to the bathroom before I burst into tears. Had Beckett really gone ahead and gotten my mom fired like he’d always threatened to? How could he? Tears flowed down my cheeks, and my head pounded, my earlier headache doubling in intensity.
In the end, we would have never been able to overcome the differences between us. He’d always be the callous rich boy who didn’t care or understand how life was for those below him. Sure, he had all his issues and a truly terrible past, but it didn’t excuse him lashing out in anger and tearing my life to shreds, over a miscommunication, no less.
I should have known. My brother was right in the end. I was fucking naïve. Overprotected and sheltered, with no real understanding of men. He’d been worried I’d get my heart broken, and predictably enough, I had…by the first guy I’d ever kissed. The only guy I’d ever loved.
It was always going to end up like this.
The billionaire’s son, and the cleaner’s daughter. In what world did that end happily?
After wallowing in self-pity for so long, I got worried my mom would come look for me, so I got up and washed my face. It was a little puffy but not too bad. I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
So, is that it? Giving up already?
The voice inside me that used to thrive on fighting with Beckett piped up. I was glad to hear her. I needed her now more than ever.
I might not be able to get my mom her job back, but then maybe she was better off out of that fucked up house on the cliffs.
What I could do, however, was finish blowing up Colette Anderson’s life. The woman more than deserved it. In doing so, I’d also clear my name. I could accept that Beckett and I were from two different worlds, that we’d never work, but I couldn’t accept him breaking it off with me without ever hearing my side.
I might not have much, but I had my dignity and integrity.
He’d hear my side, even if I wasn’t the one to tell him.
Beckett
I scoredthe pills from some guy who hung around outside the HHU library. He had your typical menu of tablets to suit the college crowd.
After Eve had left and the other guys had gone to bed, silence fell over the apartment that echoed the painful stillness in my head.
I lay in the bed that smelled like Eve and looked at the little bag that held the drugs. Taking them felt like closing the door on anything better in my life.
Closing the door on her.
The only thing I’d ever wanted. The only one who mattered. Maybe for that reason, I couldn’t bring myself to take them. I shoved them into a drawer. I was done with drugs. They wouldn’t help.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. My heart was broken and battered, limping a beat that was painful. I’d switched my phone off earlier. I knew that if Eve kept calling, I’d answer, and I was too much of a mess right now for that.There could be a good reason for them meeting,a voice whispered inmy head. Or, maybe she just wanted the money.No, you know her better than that.But maybe she’s horrified about your past after all. Maybe she’s sickened by you. Maybe she thinks you’re too broken to fix.
