“You almost fell. Let me check your knee.”
“I said don't.”
The sharpness in my voice makes her freeze. For a long moment, we just stare at each other across the treatment room. The distance between us is only a few feet, but it might as well be miles.
“What is going on with you?” Her voice is quieter now, stripped of the professional veneer. “Did something happen? Is it your dad? Did you get bad news?”
“My dad is fine.”
“Then what?”
My pride won't let the words out. If she wanted me to know, she would have told me. The fact that she's standing here pretending nothing happened tells me everything I need to know.
“This was a mistake,” I say instead.
Her face goes pale. “What was a mistake?”
“Us. This. Whatever we've been doing.”
She flinches like I've struck her. Her lips part, but no sound comes out, and for a moment she just stands there, frozen, hereyes searching my face for any sign that I don't mean what I'm saying.
“Ethan, what are you talking about? Two days ago, you told me you loved me.”
Two days ago, I didn't know she was a liar. “I got caught up in the moment.”
“That's bullshit, and you know it.” She takes a step toward me, and I take a step back. “Something happened between yesterday morning and now. Something changed, and you won't tell me what.”
“Nothing happened.”
“Stop lying to me!”
The irony is almost laughable. She's accusing me of lying when she's the one who told me she was meeting Avery while sitting in a car with her ex-fiancé.
“I have nothing to offer you,” I say. “I'm a broken hockey player with a bum knee and a family that drains every penny I make. You should be with someone who can give you the life you deserve.”
“I don't want someone else. I want you.”
“You don't know what you want.”
“Don't you dare tell me what I want.” Her eyes are blazing now, anger replacing the confusion. “I left my entire life behind to come to New York. I walked away from my family, my friends, everything I knew. And I did it because I was done letting other people make decisions for me. So don't stand there and tell me I don't know what I want.”
“Then go back to what you had before. It suited you better anyway.”
Hurt draws itself on her face. “What does that mean?”
“It means you have options. Better options than me.”
“Is this about Brody? Did my mother call you? Did someone say something?”
My silence is answer enough.
Understanding dawns on her face. “Ethan, whatever you think is going on, you're wrong.”
“I saw you in the parking lot yesterday. I saw you arguing with some guy in a fancy suit, and then you got into his car and drove away with him.”
Her face goes white.
“You told me you were meeting Avery. You lied without missing a beat.” My voice is cold and hard. “So tell me again how I'm wrong about what's going on.”
