Page 97 of Snared Rider

“If you love me as much as you say you do, why did you end things between us?” I speak so softly I don’t think he can hear, but his head lowers and he touches his forehead to mine as his hands clutch my shoulders. I should move away, I know I should, but my feet are rooted.

“Because I had to.”

I push back from him, creating distance between us. “That’s not a fucking reason, Logan!”

His hands go into his hair and his jaw tightens. “You want the truth?”

That is all I have ever wanted, although the look in his eyes makes me wonder if the truth will bring me the peace I want.

Still, I say, “Yes.”

“I did it for you.”

This admission makes me scoff. “You didn’t do it for me.”

“I did it for you,” he repeats.

“What possible reason could you have for doing that? Because believe me, it didn’t benefit me in the slightest.”

His incredulity shines through clearly.

“You moved away, you got an education, a good job. You got a life.” He shakes his head. “And you don’t think you benefitted?”

Bastard.

Seriously, is he trying to convince me what he did was selfless?

“I could have done all that with you!”

“No, Beth, you couldn’t.”

“Yeah? Why the fuck not?”

He throws his hands up into the air and barks, “Because I was looking at a long fucking stretch inside! And there was no fucking way I was letting you put your life on pause for me!”

His confession floors me.

My legs wobble as his words sink in.

Inside…

He means prison. He was looking at jail time?

What the fuck?

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