Page 88 of Myself

“Becca, I didn’t—”

She pulls her arm away from my hold, and I let her go. “I need some space. For once, I’m gonna think about me.”

“Becca, don’t—”

“I need to be alone, Jaycent,” she snaps, interrupting me again.

I swallow and nod my head. “For how long?”

“I’m not sure. But this ... this isn’t what I wanted for us.” Then she turns around and walks off.

My chest tightens at her words. This isn’t what she wanted for us. Does she think I wanted this either? I never wanted to hurt her. I thought I was helping her.

I run a hand through my hair as cars honk their horns and people pass me like I didn’t just get my heart ripped out. I pull out my phone and dial her father’s number. “Hello?” he answers, his voice clipped.

“Our little talk didn’t go so great. She walked away from me,” I say tightly.

He sighs. “I figured that would happen. She was pretty upset.”

“Yeah,” I say as I watch her walk into the crowd and out of my vision. “I love her. And for the second time in my life, I just watched her walk away from me. Do you know how that feels?” He doesn’t answer, and I’m not sure if it’s due to the company surrounding him or if it’s just ‘cause he doesn’t want to answer. “Like shit! I never wanted to keep secrets from her. You made me tell you what happened, and you promised to be discreet and look where that got me.” Fuck, I know it’s not his fault. It’s Conner’s, but I can’t blame him. I knew he would find a way to fuck it up. She was right; I put myself in this position by telling him in the first place.

“I can fix it,” he finally says.

“Don’t bother,” I say and then hang up.

As I put my phone in my pocket, it rings. I expect it to be Timothy but see that it’s my contact from the other day. “You’d better have some good news,” I say in greeting.

“Well, hello to you too,” he says, and I can hear his smile in his voice.

“Do you have something for me or not?” I snap.

“Geez.” He draws out the word. “I found something. And he is being picked up as we speak.”

“How long?” I ask.

“Max two years,” he answers.

“Not what I wanted but better than nothing,” I say flatly.

“I did my best.”

“It was enough. Thanks,” I say and hang up. At least one good thing came out of this day.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

BECCA

I walk into our apartment and make my way to my bedroom. I fall onto my bed and cry into my comforter.

I hear my bedroom door open and then Ashlyn’s voice. “Becca?”

I roll over onto my back and wipe my wet cheeks but say nothing. Ashlyn walks in and sits down beside me. “Do you want to talk?”

I sit up and sigh. I do. I need someone to talk to, and Ashlyn will understand. “I ran into Conner today, and he told me to tell my dad to stay away from him. So I went up to his work, but he is out of town. Ryder’s assistant called my dad, and then he called me, and he told me that Jaycent had told him last week that Conner was being paid to date me.”

Her eyes widen. “He was what?” she snaps. “Your dad was paying him?” she demands.

I shake my head. “I forgot you didn’t know.” I sigh.

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