Page 34 of No One Else Can Have Her

Dalton sighed and Reese shook his head. They were hating her. Not that she could blame them. She had only wanted to bring Nate and Carly together, and all she had done was pull them far apart.

Chapter Ten

Carly sat on the edge of her bed. Her bedroom door was open, and she stared out at the main apartment.

This place had seemed too good to be true. A steal of a rental price, the condition, the fact it was in a safe part of town. She felt like she hit the jackpot, which she had. Tears filled her eyes. Lies. All of it.

Her friends had been in on it as well. They had all known the truth, and while she’d been excited about this place, they had known it was all because of Nate.

She swiped at the tears, not wanting them to fall.

Dropping her hand into her lap, she tried to take a deep breath, and not to think about the pain. Her friends had to be paid to spend time with her. Sarah had to be paid to live with her. Mitch was paid to walk her home. Dalton and Reese were paid to come and talk to her at the bar.

Why? Was she that bad of a person? That boring?

She sniffled.

Nate had pushed her dates away, and in doing so, she had thought it was because of her.

Her job was a fake.

Everything was a complete and total lie.

To add to everything, she now might be pregnant with Nate’s baby. Was that all a lie as well?

She pressed her palms to her eyes and tried not to cry, but the tears wanted to fall.

The knock at the door forced her to lift her head. Getting to her feet, she made her way to the main door and looked out to see Mitch standing there.

“I know you’re in there,” Mitch said.

“Go away then and leave me alone.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Why? Did Nate pay you to come and say those words?”

“Nope,” Mitch said. “I came to see you because that’s what friends do, also to explain stuff to you. You can keep me out and I can talk to you through the door and then everyone can know your business. I don’t care.”

Carly didn’t want everyone to know the humiliation she was going through. She growled and pulled open the door. “Stop. Just stop. You have nothing to say that I want to hear, and you should just leave.”

She should have known it was pointless even trying to talk to Mitch. He was a force to be reckoned with, and he pushed his way into the apartment.

“You know, I could call the cops.”

“And after all this time, turn into a snitch?” he asked.

She did flinch at that term. Carly was no snitch. She prided herself on always having her friends’ backs, no matter what. And Mitch knew it.

Instead, she slammed the door closed. “Say what you want and get out.”

Carly brushed past him and moved to sit on the couch. She didn’t want to go back to her bedroom, as that now felt way too private. There would have been a time she didn’t care. It was Mitch, and he was like a brother to her. Just like Dalton and Reese, but that was never happening again. She didn’t have anyone. It was a sobering thought.

“I get that you’re pissed,” Mitch said.

This did make her look at him, and she wanted to scoff but remained silent. There was no point in getting into a conversation with him. She just wanted him to leave.

“Okay, I was hoping for you to scream and shout at me … it would have made this a whole lot easier.”

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