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I swallow. “What’s wrong?”
Ryker touches my cheek. “You’re amazing. You know that?”
My eyebrows furrow. “But?”
He’s not going to try and break up with me again, is he? Not when there’s just a week until the wedding.
“No buts,” he says. “I just wanted you to know that you’ve been such an inspiration to me. You’ve changed my life.”
“But?” I ask again.
He can’t fool me. I know there’s one coming.
He draws a breath. “I haven’t told Ethan about the Foundation. I can’t.”
I don’t understand. “Why not?”
“Because he’s taking a few weeks off after his baby is born and he wants Asher and me to lead the company.”
“And you said yes?”
Ryker sighs. “I can’t say no to him, Claire. He’s my brother. He’s done a lot for me.”
“Wow.”
That’s all I can say to sum up my disappointment. Wow.
“Hey.” He strokes my cheek. “It’s not like I’m giving up on the Foundation. It just has to wait a little longer.”
“You’ve already spent more than seven years working for your brother,” I remind him. “Isn’t it about time you do something else? Something for yourself?”
Doesn’t he see that he’s sacrificing his own happiness for others? How is that okay with him?
I move away from him. “You always put others first, Ryker. It’s about time you put yourself first.”
“Well, now is not that time. Ethan is having a baby. He’s having a family. He deserves to be with his family.”
“And he can be even without you putting your dreams on hold,” I tell him. “Asher’s there.”
“He can’t do it on his own.”
“Surely there’s more than one capable person in your company. Can’t he get a group of them to help him?”
Ryker shakes his head. “Ethan asked me. He’s never asked anything of me before.”
“He’s never thought of your happiness before either, has he?”
Ryker’s eyes narrow. “That’s not true.”
“Did he ever ask you what you want to do with your life?” I ask him.
He looks away.
“I thought so. Everyone in your family is selfish. If you don’t think of yourself, they’re going to keep taking pieces of you and trample you until nothing is left.”
“You’re the one who’s selfish!” Ryker snaps at me.
My eyebrows furrow. “Me?”
How did this become about me?
“You just dropped out of school without telling Joel. You go hopping and skipping around the world without a care.”
Oh, so those are bad things now? I’m the bad one now? Unbelievable.
“You don’t understand what family means because you don’t have one, so you don’t understand how I feel about mine. And you definitely don’t get to judge them or my relationship with them.”
Wow. Now I don’t have a family?
I get off the bed. This is ridiculous. I’m getting out of here.
“I can’t believe you brought me here just to say mean things to me,” I say as I put on my clothes. “You could have just said them when you came to my apartment in Chicago.”
Ryker falls silent.
“Tell me, was all this just you trying to butter me up before you gave me your bad news? You had sex with me to put me in a good mood so then maybe I wouldn’t get mad at you?” I snort as I pull my shirt over my head. “Well, you wasted your time. You wasted all this.”
Ryker sits up. “I didn’t—”
“What about us, Ryker? Haven’t you paused to think of that? You told me you were going to travel with me. You told me we would spend time together, that we would help people together, that we would change the world together. What happened to that?”
“Plans change.”
That’s all he can say? Plans change?
I nod as I fight back tears. “You know what? You’re right. Plans change. Unexpected shit happens. And when it does, you’re always going to put me last, right? I’m always going to be last.”
Ryker shakes his head. “That’s not true.”
“But it is. I mean, you haven’t even told Joel about us because you’re thinking of him and of yourself instead of me.”
“I’m going to tell him after the wedding.”
“Exactly. Because he deserves to be happy. But you don’t? I don’t?”
“I thought we were happy.”
I shake my head as I grab my shoes. “I don’t even know what we are anymore.”
I grab my backpack and my coat and walk to the door.
“Claire!”
Ryker comes after me and grabs my arm. I shrug his hand off.
“You can put yourself last all you want, Ryker, but I’m not settling for it. I’m done.”
I walk out the door. Out in the hallway, I take a moment to breathe in spite of the pain crushing my chest. Then I put on my shoes and my coat. As I walk down the hall, the tears I’ve been holding back trickle down my cheeks. I stop by the window at the end to wipe them as I watch the falling snow.
Ryker and I are done. It’s over.
