Page 184 of I’m The Worst

I lower my voice immediately. “I can’t do it, Gage.”

His expression hardens. “You can’t just call off a wedding to a Sovereign Commander.”

“I can.”

“No. You can’t.”

My hands clench in my lap. “I don’t care.”

He’s right.

I know he’s right.

David won’t let me walk away. My father won’t let me walk away. The Sovereign sure as hell won’t let me walk away. I just…I can’t marry him. I won’t.

“AJ—”

“I want to be with Wolff.”

For a second, Gage just stares. Like he’s trying to decide if I’m joking. Or drunk. Or having some kind of breakdown. Honestly, it could be any of the three.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I love him.” I blurt the confession. I’ve never said it out loud before. Not even in the dark when I’m alone and stupid enough to think about him. But now that it’s out there, I can’t take it back.

Gage looks horrified, like I just confessed to something unforgivable.

“And…” I swallow hard, my voice cracking. “I think he loves me too.”

The way he held me the other night…there’s something real between us. Something deeper than the hate and the violence and the desperate, angry fucking. Something that feels like it could survive all the darkness if we just stopped fighting it.

“Are you high?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“But that’s not the point.”

“That’s exactly the point.” He drags a hand down his face.

“Wolff?” His voice rises. “K9?”

Several people glance our direction, so he whisper-hisses, “The same fucking sociopath who⁠—”

“He’s not⁠—”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gage laughs.

“I know him.”

“No, you fucked him. Big difference.”

I glare at him, but it’s weak. Because I don’t know how to explain it.

“Even if by some fucking miracle he could actually feel something, Wolff is not the man you marry. He’s not like David⁠—”

“What the hell do you even know about David?”