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"You weren't saying that a few minutes ago when I was fucking you."
Anger surged through me at his smug tone. "Go back to your girlfriend. Seriously. Can't you see I don't want you, and she does?"
His nostrils flared. "Jade is infinitesimal in the grand scheme of things, and you’re a fucking liar. You don't want me? I hardly believe that."
The late afternoon sun bared down on us as we stared at each other. "Aaron, I'm not who you think I am."
"What, do you think I have romanticized the idea of you?" He closed the distance between us in five hurried steps. "And if I have, what's so wrong with that? What's so terrible about you that I can't love?"
Love.
The words echoed in my head with a prickling sensation akin to fear. It was not what he said, it was how he said it. His eyes were glistening with emotion as he looked down at me, his gray orbs pulling me underwater and holding me hostage until I was gasping for air.
Aaron couldn't possibly love me. That was ridiculous. The dumbest thing I'd ever heard.
"Why?" I whispered, my eyes watering. "Why are you so fixated on whatever this is? Because I assure you, it's not love."
He let out a pained groan, running a calloused hand through his hair so hard I was afraid he'd pull the roots out. "I'm going to find him, and I'm going to kill him for doing this to you."
The tears fell harshly. "Don't."
"Fucking hell, Felicity. Even if it's not me, let someone love you!"
"Love is a cage. A disguise for manipulation and deception. I won't do it a second time." My voice had raised a notch. "If me running away is my way of self-fucking-preservation, then that's what I'm going to do!"
He puffed out a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So, you got hurt—admittedly sad. But it is absolutely ridiculous that you've chosen to push everyone away because of it. Even your own family."
The last line was like a lash against my skin. "Don't you dare use that against me, you dick."
"Bloody hell, stop acting like a fucking mouse for once in your life, Felicity, and maybe if you stopped running away and allowed yourself to experience some semblance of happiness, you'll see that you're actually worth loving!"
My response died in my throat. Mouse? Where had I heard that before?
My blood ran cold. No, no, no.
It couldn't be. There was no way.
I took a step back and then another, staring at him like I was seeing him for the first time. And maybe I was because suddenly, he seemed like a different person.
"What did you just say?"
"What do you mean?" His eyes narrowed as he watched me, but I focused only on his words. A chill had settled somewhere inside me. He called me a mouse. Only one person had said that to me before.
I took another step back. "You called me a mouse."
I saw it. The exact moment it dawned on him. His eyes widened a fraction as he reached a hand out toward me, but I stepped away from his grasp, my eyes burning.
"It's you?" I gasped, barely getting the words out. Hot, angry tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't believe it. "You're AaRogue?"
Aaron cursed under his breath. "Baby, let me explain."
"Don't touch me!" I cried when he touched my upper arm, practically flying away from him. "Oh my God."
Aaron was AaRogue. They were the same person. Christ. Words could not describe the pain I felt. How had I not seen it? Aaron. AaRogue. Jesus fucking Christ! They were literally the same thing.
"I was going to tell you," he croaked. "I swear, I only just found out, baby."
"I'm not your fucking baby, you liar," I barked. "No wonder you've been on my case. You've been trying to sleep with me from the start."
