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Mack abandons my clothes and takes my hand. “Don’t think with your head for a second—think with your heart. You know Saint. Do you really think he would want to hurt you? Do you really think he’d do something like that?”
Of course I don’t. But I also didn’t think my father would be capable of cheating on my mother with multiple women. I didn’t think Dr. Barrett would be capable of groping me in public. I didn’t think Austin would be capable of human trafficking. I can’t trust my heart or my gut or whatever instincts I’m supposed to have. My heart is what got me in this mess in the first place. My heart made me ignore logic and fall for my stalker.
I climb out of bed and continue packing. “I’m done listening to my heart.”
Whatever’s left of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SAINT
My muse believes I’m capable of cheating on her. After I’ve dedicated so much time to proving otherwise. Proving to her that I’m nothing like Warren Marshall or Austin Emmons or Charles Barrett. That I’m nothing like those horrible men. That I would do anything, sacrifice anything, for her.
Yet none of it was enough. She’s never been so close and yet entirely out of reach.
I wish she’d plunged that knife into my heart. Wish she hadn’t spared me. The agony of having had her and now being forced to live without her is excruciating.
Without an agent, without a book deal, my muse is all that matters now.
“Saint?” Zayden’s voice crackles over the speaker in my car. I forgot I called him.
I’m in the parking lot at the Auburn Institute of Fine Arts. I’ll never be able to stay away from her, but she doesn’t want me around either. Relegated again to the shadows.
“She thinks I cheated on her,” I tell him. “She refuses to speak to me. I don’t know how to fix it this time.”
Silence falls between us as Zayden considers. “You said she’s your biggest fan, right?”
“Yes. She was.” Saying the words out loud is torment. She’s probably burned every copy of my books she can get her hands on.
“So what would your biggest fan want for your next chapter?”
I’ve always been able to get in my readers’ heads. To envision what they would hope for in my next installment.
But this time, when it matters most, I draw a blank. “I don’t know.”
“Give her some time. Let her come to you. Try exercising some patience for once.”
“Excellent advice.”
As soon as I end the call, I race across campus to the faculty building. Fuck patience.
But I halt when I spot Trevor fucking Hobart monitoring the students from a bench.
The fury boiling in my veins is nearly enough to compel me to attack him right here on campus with dozens of witnesses. But I keep my hands relaxed at my sides and stride over to him as if we’re about to have an amiable conversation.
He stiffens when I sit beside him and drape my arms over the back of the bench. “So you and April Emmons?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes are as flat as his tone.
“Did you forget her name or did you simply never ask?”
He moves to stand, but my hand lands on his shoulder, keeping him in place.
“There are consequences when you fuck with me, Trevor. Especially when you fuck with my future wife.”
He barks a laugh. “Future wife? You’re delusional. She’s done with you.” He leans closer, mouth curled into a snarl. “I know exactly what you’ve done, man. To Austin. To Dr. Barrett. You’re the one who doesn’t want to fuck with me. Watch yourself.”
With that, he stomps off. His lies are almost convincing. No wonder Briar fell for his manipulations along with so many other women. No wonder she mistook him for a friend.
