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Brody reaches for me but I bat his hands away.
“How dare you say I’m overreacting? I’m the one who came home to discover my pottery shed burned down and now I come home to this.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “I didn’t think—”
“Exactly my point. You never think. You never think of anyone except yourself. You need to grow the hell up.”
“I am a grown man,” he grumbles.
“Age has nothing to do with maturity level.” My nostrils flare. “I can’t believe you conned me into believing there was more to you than your childish pranks. You’re just like my dad. And I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” he growls, “and I’m not your dad. There is more to me than childish pranks, which this was not by the way.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say as I retreat several steps. I can’t do what needs to be done while I’m sniffing his sandalwood scent. “I think you should leave.”
“Leave? You want me to leave?” Confusion clouds his vision.
I stare at a point over his shoulder. I refuse to be pulled in by those baby blue eyes staring at me with hurt in them. “At the risk of repeating myself, yes, I want you to leave.”
He blows out a breath. “Okay. I can go for a walk while you have a shower.”
I don’t want him to leave for a few hours. I want him to leave forever. Before he can pull me further into his trap. I never should have fallen in love with him. No, I didn’t fall in love with him. I fell in love with a version of him. A version of him that doesn’t exist as it turns out.
Is this what happened to my mom? Did she get fooled by Dad?
“No.” My jaw is clenched so hard I’m surprised he can understand me.
“You need more time? I can hang out with Elder and Miller atNaked Falls Brewingfor a few hours.”
“I’m not talking about a few hours.”
His nose scrunches up. “You want me to find somewhere else to sleep for the night? Okay. Let me pack an overnight bag.” His shoulders hunch.
I refuse to let his defeated appearance sway me. He’s not the injured party here. I am. What happens the next time he plays with fire? I’ve already lost a bed and a pottery shed. I can’t lose this house. This is the house my mom raised me in. She left it to me. I need to protect it.
“You don’t need an overnight bag!”
He holds up his hands and backs away. “Okay. Okay. I can borrow a toothbrush from Riley.”
Why is he not getting what I’m saying? Is he messing with me? Probably. It’s what he does after all. “Are you deliberately being obtuse?”
He scratches his ear. “No?”
I push up on my toes and get into his face. “I want you to leave. Forever.”
“Forever?” The color drains from his face. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“What was your first clue?”
“You can’t break up with me.”
“Not only can I break up with you. Iambreaking up with you.”
He captures my wrists in his hands. “But I love you.”
I flinch. I dreamed of him saying those words to me. But not this way. Not in an attempt to manipulate me into getting what he wants.
“You love me? How dare you claim to love me now! Stop trying to manipulate me.”
