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“Long enough for us to end this now.”
Tears spilled over, and there was nothing I could do. My ribs split in half and the pressure of this moment, of losing Jack and realizing that we were doomed from the start, was too much.
“I just wanted to be strong on my own,” I whispered. Something he had wanted to help me with. Something he did helped me with. Y
et, I stood there, crushed beneath the weight of what was slipping away. I just wanted Brock gone. I wanted a fresh start with my life. And I wanted that with Jack. Yet, all the emotions we’d shared were frosting over.
“You promised you’d never hurt me.” I looked him in the eye, and he had the decency to at least show some anguish. “You should have clarified that you meant only physically.” Though, in that moment, my entire body ached.
“Lana,” he whispered my name, and the faintest touch of his hand brushed mine.
“Ten,” I said and stepped back. We both knew ten was my limit. He didn’t have to ask for the last part, but I gave it anyway. “Ten: Cold.”
His brows sliced down, and his hands balled into fists at his sides, as if wanting to punch the wall, or maybe keep from touching me. Either way, I couldn’t stay. Couldn’t handle the look on his face any longer.
I turned and walked out, his presence as always, engulfing. And it was swallowing me whole. Leaving nothing left of the woman I was, or could have hoped to be.
Chapter Twenty
I sat on my couch, which had been my spot over the last couple days, and took a break from crying, only to fall asleep and wake up to find my life was the mess I’d left it in. It was Sunday. Tomorrow, Harper would come back, and Jack would leave.
“I can come home today,” Harper said. I pressed my cell against my ear.
“No, you stay. You’ve earned every day of your vacation. I’m fine.”
“When Jack got ahold of me to offer you the job, I didn’t think of it as a manipulation. I thought I was helping.”
“I know.” And I did. She was looking out for me, like she always did. Only this time, she’d lied to me too, and suddenly I felt as though I had been betrayed by every last person I’d ever known.
“He’s right on one thing though,” I whispered, fighting back the tears for the millionth time. “I messed up. I should have told him it was Brock. I never meant to use him. I wouldn’t use him.”
“You were trying to get rid of an asshole,” Harper said. “You were handling it the best way you knew how. The situation was fucked up. You were being used by your dad and that bitch wife of his. It’s over now. You’re still strong.”
“That was because of Jack, and he’s gone.”
“No,” Harper said. “From the beginning, I told you—”
“Please, God, spare me the ‘I told you so’ speech. I can’t handle it.”
“I was going to say, I told you that he was the catalyst for your strength. He helped you find your spark. But you’re the one that’s maintained it. You should be proud of yourself. Don’t go backwards now. Go forward. With or without him.”
I nodded. But the without part hurt to think about.
“Thanks. Have fun, okay?”
“You sure you don’t want me to come home?”
“No, I promised myself this is my last day of wallowing.” Because tomorrow, Jack would be on a plane, and out of my life.
~
The sun was setting, and I’d never experienced a longer Monday than today. Harper had just left to get some dinner, and I was getting ready to get into pajamas early, when a knock came at the door.
I opened it.
“Jack.” His name on my lips both stung and overjoyed my entire body.
He stood tall, in a black suit, looking pressed and perfect with his town car and driver idling in the driveway.
