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I’m just about to pull out my phone to text Rome when the word ‘surprise’ starts to echo throughout the backyard. Thank fuck. Now I can get out of here. I turn my head towards the noise but as soon as I do, the smile falls from my face. There, standing next to Rome, is McKenna – looking at me with nothing but hurt in her eyes.
Shit.
I can see her tears forming from here. She turns around and runs inside. Without a second thought, I pull Olivia off me and follow. Just before I get to the door, Roman steps in front of me.
“What the fuck are you doing with Olivia?!”
Rolling my eyes, I gesture toward Maverick. “Ask shithead over there. Now excuse me, I have a mess to clean up.”
The second I enter the kitchen, I find McKenna pacing back and forth. Her gaze meets mine and it’s like everything goes a few shades darker. Seeing her tear-stained cheeks breaks my heart.
“Mac, listen to me. It’s not what you think.”
A dry laugh emits from her mouth. “No? So, you aren’t at a party with your ex-girlfriend hanging all over you?”
“Nothing. Happened. I was waiting for Rome to get here so I could come find you. Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been staying at your parents’ place?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You didn’t give me a chance. Now I see why.”
“Oh stop. It’s not like that.” I reach out to touch her but she backs away. Groaning, I grit my teeth together. “Maverick saw her when he went to get the keg and brought her back here.”
“Why would he do that?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Why, Colton?!”
My eyes stare down at the floor. I know I’m not going to get away with not answering the question.
“Because he thinks I need to get laid.” It comes out as a mumble but I know she heard me by the pained noise that comes from her. “Mac, you have to believe me. I never wanted her here.”
She keeps her eyes on the ceiling, trying to blink away the tears and refusing to look at me. “It’s never going to change.”
“What’s not?”
“This! Us!” Her face is practically beet red. “I’m never going to be anything more than your dirty little secret.”
The pain in my chest is excruciating as I hear what she’s saying. “That’s not true. McKenna, don’t do this. You’re so much more than that.”
“Am I? Because Maverick brings home a girl for you and instead of telling him about us, or making her leave, you decide to indulge him by letting her think she has a chance with you!”
I throw my hands in the air. “I didn’t think you wanted me to tell him!”
She scoffs. “It would have been better than that!” Stopping for a second, she takes a breath. “Everything is exactly like it was four years ago, and I won’t put myself through that again.”
Words won’t formulate and my body won’t move as she walks back outside – leaving me the same way I once left her, broken and alone. This can’t be happening. I need her too much to let this be the end of us. There can’t be an end to us.
A newfound level of determination builds inside of me as I head out the door. McKenna is only ten feet away, talking to Tatum about something with her back to me. I swallow down the lump in my throat, but just as I’m about to go to her, Olivia grabs my hand.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you.” She presses herself up against me. “I’m getting kinda bored. What do you say we go up to your room and make up for lost time?”
I peel her off me, pushing her away with both my hands on her shoulders. “I can’t.”
She giggles like she’s still the same flirty nineteen-year-old. “Of course, you can.”
“I’m dating someone.” I try to step around her but she doesn’t let me. My patience is hanging by a very thin, single thread.
“No, you’re not.” Her hand finds her hip and she looks so sure of herself. “Maverick said you’re single. I think he would know if you had a girlfriend.”
