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“It’s different this time,” Casey insisted.
“No, it’s not. And even if it was, my feelings for you have died. You killed them little by little every time you broke up with me. Every time you said you needed a break. It was like you were trying out other options, and when they didn’t work out, you came back to a sure thing.”
Casey crossed her arms and stared straight out the front windshield. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jay shook his head. “I know how I feel, and that’s all that matters to me now. I would have given you everything, but it’sclear that you were only willing to give me parts of yourself. No relationship is going to succeed like that.”
“I am a catch,” Casey said. “Any man would be lucky to catch me.”
“Except you keep wanting to be released, and that’s not how a good relationship works.”
“What do you know about a good relationship?”
“I might not have ended up with one myself, but I see them around me.” Although there was one less now that Will and Daphne had broken up. “My parents have a great relationship, and so do Gareth and Aria. I know what it’s supposed to look like, and ours didn’t.”
“Take me back.”
“Don’t come around me again,” Jay said. “Accept that this is over and move on. Find another guy to sucker, because I’m not going to be that guy anymore.”
“Take me back.”
Jay knew that he had no choice but to do as she asked. He only hoped that his message had gotten across. He didn’t want to keep having to deal with her.
She was part of his past, not his future. He’d made some bad decisions during the years they’d been together, but he was ready to move past them. To focus on his future.
The trip back to town was made in tense silence, but Jay didn’t make any attempt to break it. When they got back, he pulled to the curb in front of the clinic, assuming she had parked somewhere close. He unlocked the door, then waited until she got out.
“You’re going to regret this,” she said as she opened the door.
“Don’t make me do this again, because next time, I won’t do it in private. I’m trying to spare you the embarrassment of a public rejection, but if you keep coming to me, the next rejection will take place wherever we are. No matter who is around.”
She slammed the door, then marched off down the sidewalk. Jay blew out a long breath, then drove around the back of the clinic to park.
“Everything okay?” Gareth asked as Jay passed his office a few minutes later.
Jay stopped and leaned against the doorjamb. “Casey was back for another attempt to get back together.”
“Let me guess,” Gareth said. “It’s her birthday?”
Jay nodded. “It took me a while to pick up on the pattern, but I eventually got there.”
“Kayleigh was the one who mentioned that Casey tended to break up with you when there was a long stretch of time without an occasion for her to get a gift. And she always seemed to have broken up with you before your birthday.”
Jay winced, not realizing his family had also figured out the pattern. “You never said anything.”
“It’s hard to say something when you know it will hurt the person.”
“I guess. I really wish I understood her mindset. Like, why the constant breakups?”
“You never asked her?”
“I did, but she’d say something like it just felt like we needed a break. Only she was the one needing a break, not me.”
“So, what did you tell her this time?”
“That the next time she tries to cozy up to me, the rejection will happen right where we are, regardless of who’s around.”
“Maybe if you got a girlfriend, she’d back off.”
