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“Brittany?” I faintly hear what sounds like Rebecca’s voice. Slowly, I dislodge myself to greet her. She beats me to it. When she sees me getting out of Brittany’s bed, she says, “What the hell?”
“Ssh.”
She eyes me like I’m Satan himself. Once we’re away from the bedroom, she asks, “What the hell are you doing here? She has a boyfriend, you know.”
“They broke up this morning.” That causes her scowl to deepen. “I had nothing to do with that, but I’m here because I love her and I want her back.”
Rebecca laughs. “Good luck with that. She hates you.”
“Yeah, thanks for the reminder,” I mutter, absentmindedly reaching up to grab my neck.
“You’re making him nervous, Bec,” Brittany says, causing us to whirl around to face her.
I drop my hand.
“He should be nervous. I’m tempted to kick him in the balls. Are you sure you want him here? We could call the cops.”
Brittany shrugs as she ambles into the kitchen and opens the fridge, staring at the contents. “He won’t leave. I don’t care anymore. Let him do whatever the hell he wants.”
Damn. I was hoping she’d wake up and like me a little more. Or at least be willing to hear me out. There’s so much I want to tell her. Maybe I need to stay and wait until she listens.
“She doesn’t want you here. You should leave,” Rebecca tells him as I grab a can of Sun Drop from the fridge. Nothing looks good enough to eat, so I’ll quench my thirst instead.
“Not until we talk,” Trace answers, only looking at me.
I’m tired. I’ve slept the day away and yet I’m still tired. “What do you want to talk about?” My fight has left me for the moment, so I’ll play along. “I don’t understand what we have to talk about, Trace. You didn’t think we would work. You broke up with me. It’s been over a year. I had even moved on. What do we need to talk about?”
His jaw clenches with my moving on bit. It’s sort of true. I dated someone else. I did my best not to think about Trace at all. The hurt and anger and love had been buried until I had to dig for it if I wanted to experience them. Trace walking back into my life has caused the feelings to rise from the ground like the fucking undead.
“We need to talk about everything that’s happened.”
“Hmm,” I say. “Why? Because I don’t think we do.”
“Because I want you back, damn it!” Trace seems to have developed a bit of a temper. That, or I’m really pushing his buttons.
I laugh humorlessly, trying not to let his words affect me. I do my best to shove the love I felt for him back into its grave where it belongs. I remind myself that I was ruined when he left me. I was devastated. I deserve better. I can’t go back to that. There is one fact that trumps everything. I can’t trust Trace anymore. With a quick calming breath, I raise an eyebrow at him. “And? You had your chance. You blew it.”
“You’re willing to throw away all those years of knowing me without at least hearing me out?”
“Yes.”
He stares at me before shaking his head in disbelief.
“Okay, well, I’m going to go,” Rebecca says. “I came to check on you since I hadn’t heard from you today. Call me later.” She walks over to hug me before leaving.
Trace is gripping his neck so hard, I imagine it hurts. “Britt.” His voice is low and there’s a mixture of pain, pleading, and desperation in his tone. His eyes look like his voice sounds. “Please.”
God, I hate myself and I hate him. “Fine.”
His quick breathtaking smile guts me. Trace – one, Brittany – zero. He orders a pizza since he’s starving and makes use of my bathroom. I settle in on the couch and start squeezing my wrist. Am I really prepared to listen to what he has to say? No. I’ve been praying I would never see him again. Trace sits next to me and I wish I couldn’t smell a hint of his soap. Same as it was.
“So, why were you at the event last night?” he asks. I guess we’ll keep things light until the pizza comes.
“The company I work for is the one who arranged everything. It was my first project.”
“Really? That’s great. You did well.”
I shrug, not wanting his praise. “Why were you there?”
