Page 88 of Mid-Thirties Slightly Hot Mess Female Seeking Billionaire

"I'm not falling for her. I just... Fine. I don't know what I feel for her. I like being around her. She's fun. She's different. She's quirky. Yeah, but I just cannot commit to anything. I cannot..." I sigh. "You know what's going on with my parents. It's just a lot. My dad and my mom had the most fucked up relationship and I saw what it did to her and now he's having another baby and it's just not good. Relationships and love suck? They just..." I pause. "I'm not even making sense, am I?"

"I get it," Jackson says. "You're scared to commit. You're scared to give your heart and you're scared to accept love because you see how twisted it can be. I understand that."

"I know. I just feel bad that she's not talking to me and I want to see her, and I want to talk to her, and I want to apologize. What if she just never talks to me again?"

"How would that make you feel?" He asks.

"Like fucking shit. I want to see her. Do you know how hard it's been?"

"What, to not call her?"

"No, I've been calling her. She won't answer."

"Did you leave a voicemail?"

"No, I didn't leave a voicemail because it never went to voicemail."

"Oh," he says, his eyes wide.

"What do you mean oh?"

"She blocked you, dude."

"What? What do you mean she blocked me?"

"If you're calling her and it's not going to voicemail, it means she blocked you."

"Fuck. She blocked me. She hates me."

"Or maybe she just loves you so much that it hurts and she couldn't deal with the fact that you might call her and talk some bullshit to her."

"Fuck., I screwed this up, didn't I?"

"Depends," he says.

"On what?" I ask.

"If you do love her."

"I barely know her. I..."

"Ethan."

"Yeah?"

"Let's be honest here."

"I'm always honest."

"Do you think that you love her?"

"What do you mean do I think that I love her?"

"Do you think that..." He pauses as we hear a knock on the door.

"Yeah," I call out.

Edith opens it. "Hi, Ethan?" She looks hesitant.

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