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“You what?” His voice rises and his hands lift to his sides. “Speak, Cassidy, because my mind is going to some very dark places right now.”
“Please calm down and let me start from the beginning.”
“There’s only one thing I need you to say, and something tells me you know exactly what that is.”
“Aiden.”
He jumps up from the couch. “Who the fuck are you? Is Cassidy your real name?”
“Yes. My real name is Cassidy. You just…”
My head lowers to the ground, shaking back and forth.
“Goddammit. Look at me,” he bellows. “Just say it.”
My head pops up, and my mouth opens and closes, tears collecting in my eyes.
“Say it,” he repeats, taking a step toward me, face turning red. “Just fucking say it.”
“Pip,” I yell. “Is that what you want to hear, Aiden? My name? It’s Cassidy. But you know me as Pip.”
His face drains of all color. His mouth drops open, but he only allows me to see the emotion for a second before he’s doing what he’s always done to protect himself.
Building a fortress around himself.
He straightens his back and crosses his arms, erecting the walls he so often uses.
Never on me.
Until now.
“I’m sorry.” My voice is low and tormented, the words sputtering out as my cheeks dampen.
What else can I possibly say? There’s nothing to excuse what I’ve done. The secrets I’ve kept. I was wrong.
“You think you can run, but one day, I’ll catch you.”
His expression is terrifying, stone-cold eyes that look right through me.
There’s no warmth. No signs that point to fond memories of the girl I used to be. He looks at me like I’m a stranger.
Worse.
He looks at me with pure hate. The way he used to look at her. The one person who deserved his loathing. His mother. The first woman to betray him, and now I’m no better than her.
“Please talk to me,” I beg, taking two steps to close the gap between us.
He doesn’t move, but he certainly doesn’t reach out to me.
“Please,” I ask once more.
“What was this? Some ploy? For what purpose?” He huffs a humorless laugh. “Cassidy. What the fuck? All this time, I thought this was…that we were a sweet collide. Something big and strong and unbreakable. But this wasn’t a collide. You fucking shattered me.”
Disdain drips all over my name, and it’s not lost on me that he doesn’t call me Pip. Because to him, that time in our life is long gone.
“Aiden, I didn’t mean—”
“Are you like them? All the others that have tried to get close to me. To use me? Just want a piece of the player.”
