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I go to step around him when he catches my elbow and pulls me back to him, his hands at my waist. “Don’t, Aspen. Don’t go out with this guy.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not done with you, and I’m not ready to watch you fall into the arms of some other man.”
“Then kiss me.”
His brows furrow, and he pulls back just an inch, his grip tightening on my waist. “What?”
“Break all the rules and kiss me,” I beg him. “Prove to me that there’s a reason why I should endure this when you’re not willing to give me what I want.”
He shakes his head, fear flashing in his eyes. “You told me that you could handle it. You said this wasn’t going to happen. I’m not the one fucking things up here. This is all you.”
“Perhaps that’s true,” I say, my gaze falling away, all too aware of what I said. “But you’re the one who broke the rules when you threw me against that door at Cherry. Don’t you remember what you said to me? How you growled in my ear with desperation? Gritted your teeth and saidsee what you do to me?How you told me my sweet little cunt could bring you to your knees. That shit means something, and you know it.”
“Aspen, I—”
I scoff, seeing the rejection in his eyes, and pulling myself out of his arms before fixing him with a hard, broken stare. “I might not have been strong enough to not get emotionally attached, but you can’t be the only one who gets to choose which rules to follow or break.”
He just stares at me, seeing there’s no point in arguing, and fearing this is the last time I might ever see him, I step right back into his arms and push up onto my tippy toes. I press my lips to his, just how I’ve always wanted to, and when I pull away, I hold his dark stare, noticing how rigid he’s become. “If you don’t want me, then let me go,” I tell him before pulling free of his strong grasp. “Lock up when you let yourself out. I have somewhere to be.”
And with that, I stride out of my apartment, leaving behind Izaac Banks and any hope for a future between us.
26
ASPEN
Walking into Joe’s Bar, I spot Becs sitting in a small booth, and the moment her gaze lifts to mine, she offers me a small smile. The moment she sees the look on my face, her smile fades. I make my way toward her and drop down into the booth. “I need a drink.”
“Oh shit, what happened?” she asks as I make myself comfortable and steal the glass right out of her hand. I hold the rim to my lips and drink it all before finally putting it down. When I glance up, I find her concerned gaze fixed on me.
“Izaac is what happened,” I tell her and she indicates to the bartender to get us two more of whatever she was just drinking. “He’s such an asshole. I mean, the audacity of that man blows my mind. He deserves a fucking award for being the most delusional human being on the planet.”
She cringes. “What did he do this time?”
“I told him it was over, that there would be no more visits to Vixen unless he was able to break his own goddamn rules and admit he feels something for me, and if he couldn’t do that, then I was walking because I deserve better—”
“Damn straight, you do,” she cuts in.
“But then that freaking douche canoe had the nerve to tell me not to go out with Harrison tonight because he’s not done with me yet. Like what the hell is that? He only just told me on the phone yesterday that he could never love me.”
“Wait. What? You were supposed to go out with Harrison tonight?” she asks. “But like . . . You’re kidding right, he didn’t actually say that. Like you’re paraphrasing, right? Because if he did, that shit is harsh.”
“Oh, he definitely said that. I asked him point-blank. Will you ever love me, and he straight up said no. But I gotta give him credit. At least he was honest and didn’t laugh at me for being so fucking blind.”
“Come on, you know he’d never laugh at you about that,” she tells me. “Despite this strange little thing you’ve got going on, he’s always cared about you.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “As Austin’s little sister.”
She cringes. She knows it’s true but thankfully switches gears. “So, what were you talking about with Harrison? Are you supposed to be out with him tonight?”
“No, but for what it’s worth, I ended up texting him yesterday, and we’re going out later in the week,” I explain. “But when Izaac came barging through my apartment after I bailed on his planned fuck-fest, I may or may not have suggested my date with Harrison was tonight and that I was blowing him off for another guy.”
“Holy shit,” Becs laughs. “I can only imagine how he took that.”
“He wasn’t exactly thrilled about it,” I offer. “But getting ready for my hot date while he was in my apartment trying to convince me that we should just pretend all the bullshit from the weekend never happened was actually pretty entertaining.”
“I see,” she says as our drinks are delivered to our table. “You clearly put in all the work. You look like a snack! I bet he was salivating the whole time.”
