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“Fuck him. Anyone with an iPhone could see I was helping you.”
“You need to forget about me like I need to forget about you,” I said, my voice slightly raised. “You need to focus on Francesca and the life you’re having with her. I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”
“I did this for you tonight. Don’t turn this around to be about us.”
“That’s the point. There is no us! We had fun while it lasted. I used you to get over Jake, and now we’re back together…” I picked up an invisible speck of lint on the duvet.
God, are we even back together?
“You’ve fucked him, haven’t you?”
“That’s none of your business. Do I ask you if you’ve slept with Francesca?”
“Well, I haven’t.” He jumped up and started pacing the length of my bedroom.
“What is it you want, Connor? You’re so messed up I don’t even think you know.”
“Don’t do this, Pepper. I need you in my life.”
“I don’t think we can ever be friends, Connor. We’ve crossed that line, and I’m working on my relationship with Jake. We’re just a scandal waiting to happen. And I’m sure you’ve landed yourself in another one of those tonight by punching the jerk at the restaurant.”
“You’re right.” He paced back and forth, his head and shoulders slumped to the ground. “Tell me something then… why do I miss you like crazy?” He closed his eyes momentarily, sucking in a lungful of air. “You’re all I think about, Pepper.”
My heart ached, and my body crumpled in on itself. But as seconds passed, I bristled, anger rising in my chest.
“You don’t miss me, Connor. You miss my body,” I declared. “Please see yourself out.” I didn’t dare look at him because if I did, I’d meet his steely blues, and I knew my resolve would falter. So instead, I pulled the blanket up and tucked my head into my knees.
After a few seconds, I heard his footsteps grow fainter, followed by the ping of the elevator.
I needed to call Jake. No more half-assed attempt to patch things up. Connor was gone, and Jake was my sole focus.
He had to be.
15
Connor
Ihad to walk away. Leave Pepper’s apartment because she told me to. If she hadn’t, I honestly don’t know if I would have left of my own volition.
I had thoughts—impure thoughts—when my eyes raked down the curves of her body. But she didn’t deserve that, and neither did Francesca.
I pressed the accelerator on my Porsche Cayenne, and it thundered down Third Avenue until the inevitable traffic hit. I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel, pressing the brake suddenly.
Fuck.I was so messed up.
Punching that jerk had consequences. The way he touched her ass like he had some claim to it curdled my blood. I didn’t have another choice.Did I?
Everything should be fine. I had an attractive fiancée, I was CEO of the largest American media company, and I had all the toys money could buy. I had nothing to complain about.Then why did everything feel upside down and inside out?
The car horn sounded behind me, and when I looked up, the lights were green.
“Fuck you!” I yelled out the window, my rage barely containable. It felt like at any moment, I could snap. My foot pressed the pedal until it hit the floor, and channeling my inner Lewis Hamilton, I swerved through traffic until I reached my garage.
I hit end on the fourth call from Alfred that interrupted the “Rage Against the Machine” song blaring through my car speakers.TMZhad splashed the news, but fuck it, I didn’t need to take his call. I’d deal with it tomorrow.
I took the private elevator from my garage to my penthouse, and when the doors opened, something was amiss.I hadn’t left the lights on, had I?
Christ, Alfred better not be here. He’d only ever been here once, and that was for business. He had no interest in me. That much was clear.
