Page 56 of Secret Marriage To My Bosshole

Just then, Cora flies into the room, looking like an avenging angel.

She gets between me and Jake, placing her hands on her hips and glaring up at him.

“Jake, I’m an adult and can make my own choices. It’s not fair to dump all the blame on Griffin,” she says.

Jake glares down at his sister. “I have no words for you. I thought you were better than this.”

Cora takes a step closer to him, crossing her arms and cocking a hip.

The look in her eyes is challenging. “Better than what?”

Jake snaps his mouth shut as he looks down at her and shakes his head. “What are you doing here, Cora? If you needed money to pay off everything, you could’ve just asked me for help. You didn’t need to do this.”

I don’t care about what he says to me when he’s angry, but I won’t let him insult Cora in front of me.

Cora beats me to it. “I didn’t move in with Griffin for money. He’s not paying me to stay with him. I think we’re done for today. Now, get out.”

Jake gapes at her. “I can’t believe this. There is no way that this is what you want, Cora. I will give you the money you need. Hell, you can owe me that money if you want; just go get your things and get in the car.”

“I’m not leaving!” Cora points to the door, her voice rising. “You don’t understand, Jake. Griffin and I are in love. Now, please. Just get the hell out of here.”

Jake scoffs but stays silent for a moment before turning. “Fine, if this is what you want, have it. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

“That makes two of us.”

The front door slams a few seconds later, shaking the pictures on the walls.

Cora crumples as she folds in on herself the second she knows Jake is gone. Tears stream down her cheeks faster than she can wipe them away.

I pull her into my arms as my heart races. “Everything will be okay. It’s me he hates. He’ll get over his anger with you soon.”

Cora nods, squeezing me tight. “He’ll come to his senses about us eventually. It just hurts.”

I try to swallow the lump in my throat. “I should’ve talked to him before we ever started going out. He might not have exploded like this if I told him earlier that I was falling for you.”

Cora pulls back to look at me. “Griff, I’m a grown woman, and I’m going to date who I want, regardless of his opinion.”

Bile rises in my throat as I step away from her to pull the pizzas out of the oven when the timer goes off. “I know. I just don’t know what more we could’ve possibly done.”

“Nothing.” Cora rubs her hand up and down my back. “We’ll be fine eventually. He just needs some time to process everything.”

“He’ll be fine with you.” I rub a hand over my jaw as I turn to look down at her. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s ever going to forgive me.”

Cora props herself against the kitchen island, facing me. “You seem more upset about this than I thought you would be. We knew what we were getting into, so what’s on your mind?”

I sigh and tilt my head back to look at the ceiling.

Thousands of thoughts swirl around in my head, but they all lead back to the fear of losing my best friend forever.

“I used to spend a lot of time at your house because my own family wanted nothing to do with me.” My voice is gruff, the weight of the last hour weighing on me. “Dad was always busy with work, and Mom was always jetting off to her next modeling gig.”

“Yeah. I remember you talking about how they were barely around. My parents used to love having you around, even if you were a little mischief when we were younger.”

The corner of my mouth twitches from the fond memory of Cora’s parents, but it doesn’t chase away the sick feeling still swirling through my stomach. “I never thought I could hurt Jake the way I did.”

Cora’s face twists into something unreadable before becoming a blank mask. “Jake will forgive you. He won’t be able to hold onto his anger for long.”

“We had a bad fight once when we were sixteen over a girl we both thought we were dating. Your brother held onto the grudge for weeks even though we concluded I was the one to start dating her first.”

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