I blink away tears, shaking my head. “I thought you felt the same way I did.”
He reaches for me. “I do.This…what we have? This isn’t the same. Not even close. I meant what I said—you’re it, Sadie. You’ve always been it. I don’t want casual. You are the only one I’ve ever wanted. You’re the only one I’ll ever—”
“No.” I pull away from him, my heart racing as I try to process everything. “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to come in here and say all the right things and expect me to forgive you.”
“Sadie—”
“No.”I put up my hand. “I can’t do this anymore.”
He swallows, his jaw tight, eyes glassy and soft as he nods. “Okay.”
I stand abruptly, my heart in my throat, every pulse a reminder that this was supposed to be simple, but it never really was.
Tears streak down my cheeks as I walk to the door, holding it open for him as he backs out of my room and into the hallway.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers softly.
“Me too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SADIE
Ihatethenumbertwo.
I’m pretty sure it hates me back.
Two haunts me.
Two is the number of best friends I used to have. The number of cowboys I stupidly let past my walls of defense, handing over pieces of my heart I’ll never get back. My mistake for believing things could be different this time.
It’s been two weeks since I ended things, and coincidentally, there are two weeks until I leave for good.
I’ve been avoiding everyone. Bailing on dinners. Skipping out on going to Lucky’s. I used to be so good at pretending, but I’m too tired to care anymore.
How can I pretend I’m fine when every thought drags me straight back to him?
I don’t know how to go back to who I was before this summer, how to go back to the life I had—before him—when everything has changed.
Running has been my escape. I actually hate it, but it feels like the only time I’m safe to let my mind wander.
I’m a mile and a half in. My legs are burning, sweat slides down my spine, and my lungs are begging me to stop, but I can’t.
The crunch of gravel beneath tires creeps up behind me and I look over my shoulder.
Wesley’s truck.
The same truck he’s fucked me in countless times, knowing how I felt.
He pulls alongside me on the trail, slowing to match my pace. My chest tightens.
Why can’t he just leave me alone?
Even as I clench my fists and try to focus on my pounding heart, I can’t ignore the way his presence winds around me like a snake, slowly strangling me, binding tight. Fighting is useless. The venom from his touch still lingers in my blood.
“Hop in. I’ll drive you back.”
“No thanks. I’m good,” I say, forcing my legs to keep moving, pretending the heat in my veins isn’t entirely because of him.
