Page 49 of The Version You Hide

“Yeah, well it’s not like we’re really together.” She pushes off the ground with her foot, setting the swing in motion.

“Why are you so upset then?”

Just as quickly, she slams her foot down and the swing comes to an abrupt halt. The pain in her stare has me wishing the ground would open up and swallow me.

“I’m upset because you’ve been hiding shit from me, Dylan,” she cries. I wince at the disgust in her tone. “You aren’t the person that I thought you were. You actually led me to believe that we had something in common.”

“We do,” I say, my eyes pleading with hers.

A bitter laugh escapes her. “Dylan, you used me tonight. You brought me here to shock your parents and your ex-girlfriends. I’m not like these people and you took advantage of that.”

I shake my head defiantly. “No. I didn’t even know that

Madison was going to be here.”

She raises her eyebrows in disbelief.

“That’s not the point though,” I continue. “I brought you with me because I like spending time with you. I wasn’t lying when I said that having you here with me made this whole party more bearable.”

At least it had until my father dragged me away from her.

“Yeah, well it feels like you literally just fed me to the sharks. For the second time since I met you, by the way.” She folds her arms across her chest, leaning back into the swing.

I exhale an unsteady breath as I step up into the gazebo and fill the empty space on the swing beside her. My chest physically aches knowing I’ve been careless with Mackenzie. She’s right. She deserves more than what I’ve given her. I’d been stupid not to have been upfront with her.

“I’m sorry, Kenz. I should have given you a little more background information. About me, and about this whole situation. I wanted to. It’s just… complicated.”

“I googled you, Dylan,” she admits. She thrusts her hand in the air, her phone held tightly within her grip before dropping it back into her lap. Settling her gaze on the stars in the darkened sky ahead, she lets out a groan of frustration. “God, you’re fucking googleable.”

I sigh, stealing a glance at the phone in her hand. Cringing, I squeeze my eyes shut before I ask her, “How much did you read?”

“Enough, I guess.”

I slowly reach for the phone, my breath catching in my throat as my fingers brush hers. She opens her palm, allowing me to take it. I bring up the internet browser, still open on the google search page. Sure enough, my face fills the screen, a bunch of words below it that only describe me in vague detail.

I press on the news tab and a bunch of articles follow. I hold the phone back out to her, and she reads the top headline aloud.

“Future of Abbott group in jeopardy as Dylan Abbott, son of Ivan Abbott exits company.”

My lips form a thin line as I look down toward the ground. “My dad wants me to stay on and work for him so that I can take over the company when he retires.”

“But you don’t want that,” she correctly assumes.

“No.” Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees. “I tried it. I worked for him for a few years while studying for my MBA but honestly, I hated it. I’m not cut out for that type of work. But you’re right. I should have told you that I…”

“That you what?” she retaliates. “That you’re the heir to a billion-dollar fortune?”

“Was.”

“Was?” she questions, a crease forming between her brows.

“When I left the company, my parents cut me off. I think they figure that without my trust fund and credit cards I’ll eventually come crawling back,” I say with a subtle snicker. “Joke’s on them, I guess. Living in Cliff Haven makes me happy. The tavern, the diving. Even that stupid bomb of a car.”

Mackenzie is silent for a moment as she allows my words to sink in. Then she finally says, “I was wondering why you drove that hunk of metal if you were a billionaire.”

My lips lift slightly in a subtle grin, my shoulders jumping up as I let out a short laugh.

“My Ferrari is in the garage round back,” I admit.

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