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I’d broken his trust.
I’d fucked things up.
“I tried to tell you I wasn’t going to take the job,” I said, as if it made any difference. “Right after the championship, I tried—”
“How long?” Anger coated his words, turning my blood to ice.
“A few weeks.”
“I should call the police myself. It’s not right. She’s an innocent—”
“You think I forced her?” Bile churned in his gut. “I would never—”
“IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER.” He roared, slamming his hand down on the counter, making the fruit bowl clatter. “You think Huckley gives a shit about that, or Principal Kiln, or Mya? All they’ll see is a guy—a grown fucking man—who I trusted, taking advantage of a teenager—a fucking child—in her time of need.”
“Jase, I—”
“No, Xander.” He jabbed his finger at me. “You need to listen to me and listen good. Whatever you think you feel or however you’ve justified this to yourself, it ends. It ends now. Peyton is grieving. She’s hurting and she needs help. Professional help. She doesn’t need some down-and-out making things worse, confusing her and filling her head with idealistic notions about… fuck, I don’t even know what this is.”
I jerked back, his words physically striking me. “I’m glad to know how you really feel.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Xander. What could you possibly offer her? She’s got her whole life ahead of her. A future. A shot at something better. Once she’s had the counselling and figured out her next move, Peyton can do anything she wants. You’ll be nothing more than a blip on her radar.”
He might as well have driven a knife right through my back. I gaped at him, trying to formulate a response. But I had nothing.
Because he was right.
I had nothing to offer Peyton. Without my job at the high school, I’d be back to dead-end jobs and living paycheck to paycheck.
She deserved more.
She deserved so much more.
But I’d let the way she made me feel blind me to that fact. I’d wanted so badly to believe we could have something together—something real. But maybe it was never supposed to be that way.
I’d given up my chance back in high school, but Peyton… she still had the world at her feet.
“You need to end it. Today. I’ll handle Huckley.”
“Jase, man, I can’t—”
His eyes narrowed, fury simmering there. Jase was a silent storm and if I pushed any harder, he would explode.
“You can and you will. I’m not asking you. As Peyton’s guardian, I’m telling you, you will fucking end it.” I inhaled a sharp breath as he stormed to the door, ripping it open. “And, Xander?”
“Yeah?”
“Consider yourself officially fired.” He slammed the door behind him. It reverberated through me as I sank into my worn armchair.
It wasn’t supposed to go down like this.
Last night had been one of the best nights of my life.
One more day.
One more fucking day and I was going to come clean to Jase.
But part of me couldn’t help but think that maybe this was karma for screwing up my life back in high school. Maybe the universe wasn’t done fucking with me.
