Page 160 of One Wrong Move

I feel so disappointed with myself. I was supposed to get out, damn it, to move abroad and be wild and stand on my own two feet and?—

“Your conscience? You can’t be serious,” Nate says. His voice sounds incredulous. “He doesn’t deserve a single passing thought in your head.”

“Maybe not, but that’s my decision.” I reach for the bag. Grab my laptop and slip it inside. The need to flee is so strong, I debate leaving my charger behind.

I fight it. Round the neatly made bed and grab that, too, nearly knocking my head on the nightstand.

“You’re packing,” Nate says. “No, you’re… you’ve already packed. Unbelievable.”

“I need to think. I just need to think. That’s all.”

“Over the money? It’s such a small sum, Harper, and what does it matter if it keeps Dean off your back and away?—”

“It’s not a small sum,” I say. My voice is stronger now. Seeing him standing there, blocking most of the doorway, his expression one of pure exasperation… it fuels me. “It’s a small sum to you, definitely, and maybe even to Dean, but it’s not a small sum to me. Nor to most normal people. And I wanted to be the one to pay it back.”

Nate crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s not what I meant.”

“That was exactly what you meant. God, you and Dean, both so detached. A dollar may have lost its value to you a long time ago, but it’s still important to some of us.” I swing my weekend bag up on my shoulder and push past him.

He follows me. “That’s not true.”

“Of course it is. I’ve seen it every day since I moved in.”

“What would you have me do, Harper? Stand by and watch as Dean abused you through veiled threats and hints of paying interest?” His voice is angry now, too. Frustrated. “I had to help.”

“You didn’t help!”

“Didn’t I? Isn’t it better not to have?—”

I spin around to face him. “Because now I’m indebted to you!”

He stops in the entryway and looks like I’ve just hit him over the head. “What? Of course, you’re not.”

“No. Of course, I am. And now… I’m gonna have to draw up a payment plan with you. How could you not tell me, Nate? How could you not ask me first?”

The words feel like a lead weight, settling somewhere over my ribcage, and a hit of sadness strikes me, strong enough that it feels like a punch to my stomach.

I’ve been having so much fun with him. I’ve been feeling like maybe… like we might be… But now, it feels like all of that has been pulled out from under me.

Nate looks at me with sorrow in his eyes, but doesn’t give me a response. Even though there is one. But maybe that’s part of the box we kept sealed away, too.

The box I can’t ignore any longer.

I open the front door and step out into the waning sunlight.

“Harper, you can’t leave.”

“Oh, that’s one thing I can still do on my own.”

“Where are you going? Where will you spend the night?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

He follows me out to the sidewalk. “Let me book you a hotel, at least. Call a cab.”

The words make me laugh. It’s humorless, and another tear tracks down my cheek. “No, thank you. I think it’s time I start paying for things myself.”

Nate

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