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And, I’d thought, my last.
Everything inside me screamed in agony. Because, in truth, Barrick was my nothing. He had only been pretending to want and care about me. He was merely doing his job.
A job my father hired him for.
And that was a double direct stab to the heart. Daddy had set me up to fail.
“Mia?”
I jerked at the sound of Braxton’s voice. Scrubbing my hands over my damp cheeks, I glanced his way to find him standing only a few feet away. His dark eyes were full of pain and torment, making me want to hug and slap him all at the same time.
“What is it?” I asked in a voice that seemed perpetually choked now, dropping my eyes back to the pillow I was clutching to my chest because it hurt to look at him.
“What are you going to do now?”
The hesitancy in his voice had me looking at him again. “I don’t understand the question.”
Sitting on the coffee table in front of me much like my mother had earlier, he leaned forward. “I mean, are you breaking up with Barrick? Will you move back to the dorm? Or will you…go home?”
“I’m not going home. I have responsibilities with school and work. Just because you dickheads were playing games with me doesn’t mean I’m going to pack up and run away with my tail tucked between my legs all the way back to California to lick my wounds.”
His shoulders seemed to relax a little, but not completely. “And you and Barrick?”
That forced a dry laugh from my throat. “There is no Barrick as far as I’m concerned.”
“Mia, just think about this for a second. Don’t do anything because you’re pissed right now. Barrick…” He rubbed his hands down his face and muttered a curse under his breath. “I’ve never seen him as happy as he’s been with you. You bring out something in him that wasn’t there before. Something I think died when he buried his dad.”
“Brax, stop,” I ordered, my tone hardening. “Nothing about how Barrick was with me was ever real. Everything I thought he felt for me, that was just pretend. If you were ever my friend—and seriously, at this point, I have my doubts—then please shut up about your damn cousin.”
“Of course I’m your friend!” he exploded. “You’re the only one I have. Meeting you, getting to know you, and living with you… Fuck, you make everything better, Mia. You don’t even know.”
“I thought I knew,” I told him sadly, a fresh wave of tears burning my eyes. “Now I don’t know anything where you and Barrick are concerned.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“There is nothing you can do, Brax. I don’t trust you.”
“Mia,” he started, his eyes shining with emotions I didn’t want to put names to when I was hurting so damn bad.
“You should get some sleep,” I interrupted before he could break my heart more than it already was. “I don’t know what my mom is planning, but you can bet you will want to be clearheaded when it happens.”
“I couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to,” he muttered.
“Same,” I said with a nod. “But I know how you are when you don’t get enough sleep. No one wants to be around grumpy Brax. You might scare Nevaeh.”
“I don’t think much scares her,” he said with the smallest trace of a smile before it fell away.
“You would be surprised.”
He blew out a long sigh. “She left her phone lying around a few times,” he said and I tensed. “I could have snatched it up and called Barrick and told him what is going on. But I didn’t.”
“Wow, a single moment of loyalty in a month worth of betrayal. Thanks for that,” I bit out.
“Mia, you have my complete and total loyalty. You always have,” he tried to assure me.
“Don’t spin your truths around in your head and come up with a different version of reality,” I snapped. “If you ever had any loyalty to me, you never would have let me fall for your cousin when you knew he was only playing a part.”
“He wasn’t playing this time. I swear to you, it wasn’t like that this time. Call him. Give him a chance to explain himself,” Braxton urged vehemently.
