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“That took you six hours?”
He quirks an eyebrow. “You know how these things go. Well, plus we went and got some food, and then this girl Mitch knows wanted to talk about setting up a photoshoot with this photographer she’s friends with.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, sighing. “Of course you’d just blow me off until you’re ready.”
He scoffs. “What’s wrong? We’re here now. What’d you want to work on? Vic likes to work with his own drum kit, but we can—”
“Bret, we need to talk.”
He stares at me, and I can see the confusion on his face. “Okay. Look, I know I didn’t ask you about the guys, but that’s only because I figured it’d be okay. They don’t have to—”
“Bret,” I cut him off, “we need to talk. Alone.”
Nodding, he stares past me at Mitch and Vic. “Hey, give us a minute, guys.”
His bandmates leave the room, and he leans against the desk, staring at the floor. I’m not sure where to start, but I know I need to. Before I can, though, he speaks first. “I’m sorry about last night, but your brother was being a complete ass. He always—”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with last night. Well, it does and it doesn’t.” He gives me a sideways glance. “Bret …” Taking a deep breath, I nod to myself. This is the right thing to do. Not because of how I feel around Austin, but for myself. “I think we should break up.”
I don’t know what I’m expecting. He’s never been a very emotional guy, except when it comes to fighting with my brother. Throughout the entire time we’ve been dating, our actual dates have been clubs, meeting up with his friends, or going to concerts. The concerts could’ve been looked at as a nice time together, but that’s never what it was. He was always trying to get backstage somehow to work and network. So, I know I wasn’t expecting him to get sad or start crying or anything like that.
But I was expecting something.
“Oh,” he replies.
I wait because there has to be more. He has to have more to say than that.
But he doesn’t. “That’s it?” I ask.
Lifting his brows, he nods slowly. “Yeah, pretty much. I mean, if that’s what you want, I guess that’s cool.”
My shoulders slump in apathetic confusion. “Really? You don’t have anything else to say?”
“Jade, what do you want me to say? You want to break it off, so fine. We’re over. It’s not like we were gonna get married or something.”
No. It’s definitely not like that because I never even had the faintest of thoughts about marrying Bret, but still. “No, it’s not. But I can’t believe you. Did our time together mean nothing? Bret, I’m sorry, but I’ve never been in love with you. Don’t you want to know why?”
He shrugs. “You can tell me if you want. If I’m honest, I was never in love with you either.”
“Hey!”
“Babe, you just said that exact same thing to me.”
“First off, don’t call me babe. You don’t get to call me that anymore. And secondly … I don’t get it. What was this thing, then, Bret? Why were you even going out with me? I know we’ve had ups and downs, but just because I’m not in love with you, that doesn’t mean I never cared for you. Didn’t you … didn’t you ever have any real feelings for me?”
For the first time in I don’t know how long I get a sense of real emotion from him. He steps closer, running his hand over my arm. “Of course I did. But, you’re you. You know?”
I step back, feeling disgusted. I have an idea of what he might be alluding to, but I want to be wrong. Please let me be wrong. “No. I don’t know.”
He chuckles. “Oh, come on. You’re the Queen of Kings. I’m a struggling musician. Not to mention your brother is a jerk who hates me. I knew what this was from the beginning.”
The feelings of disgust and embarrassment vanish. Now the anger is starting to rise. I step closer to him, shoving a finger in his chest. “From the beginning? Please, Bret, enlighten me. What was this from the beginning?”
Taking a deep breath, he nods to himself. “I mean, it was basically an arrangement, right? You know how bad I want this, and I was more than willing to be the rock star’s boyfriend.”
I slap him across the face. “You’re an ass. This was never an arrangement for me. I wasn’t with you to help you out in exchange for you being my boyfriend. I was with you because I liked you. Looking back, I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”
“Babe, come on.”
