AllFreeNovel
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That’s how I know it’s the real thing.
“So if I don’t agree to give up the club, we’re over.”
His words are a statement, not a question.
“What about a different club?” I ask. “I know, from my research, that there are at least four more in the city.”
“I’ve been to all of them. They’re not for me.”
“Compromise, Hunter. It’s part of every relationship.”
He shakes his head. “I chose Black Rose Underground for a reason. It fits me. So I paid for a lifetime membership, Frankie. Lifetime. No refunds. It’s not just a club. It’s my club.”
“But…”
“You’re sticking to this? Even after I told you I shelled out mid five figures for a lifetime membership? Really?”
I bite my lip. I don’t want to say it. I don’t want to—
“Say it. I need to hear you say it.”
“I…”
Why won’t the words come? I’ve already said them. But now…they’re lodged in my throat like a dry crust of bread that refuses to go down. I love the club. I love how it’s opened up a whole new world for me, but…
He sighs. “This has been the shittiest day of my life.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Has it? Think back, Hunter. Really think back. Is this truly the worst day of your life?”
He wrinkles his forehead.
He’s thinking about Allison. About the day he lost her. Then about the year of mourning.
This is not the shittiest day of his life. Not by a long shot.
He finally meets my gaze. “Yes, Frankie. Yes, it is.”
My heart cracks in two. I can almost hear the symbolic break. “Please, Hunter. Have you forgotten that I know what you went through with Allison? How you lost the love of your life?”
“It hurt,” he says. “It hurt like I never thought I was capable of hurting. At least at that time. I remember it like it was yesterday, how I felt like my heart had been torn from my body. Like I would never feel again. But you know what? Allison wasn’t the love of my life.”
“She wasn’t?” I swallow.
“No, she wasn’t.” He takes my hands. “You are, Francesca Thomas. You, with all your quirks. You crashed into me and melted the ice around my heart. And now you’re going to leave me. So clearly you don’t feel the way that I do.”
“But I do.”
“Save it. You already told me it’s over.”
“Hunter, I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t.” He drops my hands. “To you, I’m simply expendable. You want to toss me aside because you’re afraid we might run into your sister at the club. That makes me feel pretty insignificant, which I clearly am to you.”
“But you’re not.” Tears well in my eyes. “Can’t you see that this is destroying me? I love you too!”
He freezes, as if he’s made of stone. Seconds pass, seconds that seem like hours, until he finally speaks.
“What?”
“Is there something wrong with your hearing? I said I love you.”
“Then how can you do this?” He shakes his head and pulls at his hair. “What am I missing here?”
“It’s just too weird for me, Hunter. I might run into my sister and brother-in-law there. We’ve already run into my ex. How can’t you see that it’s weird for me?”
“So your discomfort is more important to you than I am.”
I drop my jaw.
I don’t know how to answer him, because though I wasn’t thinking of it in that way, he’s absolutely right.
“You know what?” He clenches his hands into fists. “I’m sick of worrying about other people’s discomfort. I’m going to fight. I’m going to fight for you. And if the prude asses at the university aren’t comfortable with the kind of literature I write, they can all suck my dick. I’ll fight them, too. I’ll fight for my job.”
“Wait…” I shake my head to clear it. “What? What about your job?”
“Yeah, I told you it was a shit day. Someone found out about my upcoming novel and is spreading my pen name all over social media.”
“You didn’t tell me your pen name.”
“It’s Sterling Parker.”
“So you’re only telling me because I can find out on social, right?”
He balls his hands into fists. “Jesus, Frankie, I would have told you. You didn’t fucking ask me!”
“Because you’re so private, Hunter. You didn’t want me using anything from you in the article, and you—”
“God, yes! I’m private. My privacy means a lot to me. That’s another reason why I chose Black Rose. It has the best NDA and the best security. This is my business, Frankie. Mine and no one else’s.”
“I… I understand. But is your job in jeopardy?”
“Not yet,” he says.
“That’s good. I mean, shouldn’t you be allowed to do what you please during your free time? I think it’s in the Constitution.”
He simply shakes his head.
“You have to fight it,” I say.
“Absolutely, Frankie. I will fight it. And I will fight for you, too.”
