Page 134 of Forgive You

But hasn’t that happened more than once already? Not like this, Jason.

Shut up.

Whatever.

“So?” I huff, ignoring my instinct to be reasonable. Fuck that. “They used to fight all the time. I know because I was the one who was the shoulder she’d cry on. She just can’t break loose from him. It’s time I accept it and move on with my life.”

That would be easier for all of us.

“I don’t know, man,” Hunter rebukes. “Jacob isn’t just an asshole. He’s a manipulative asshole. What if something is going on?”

“That’s literally what I’m saying.”

Something is going on, and she refuses to be honest about it. If that isn’t a damn red flag, I don’t fucking know what is.

“No, I mean. What if something bad is going on between them?” Hunter tilts his head to force my attention his way. “Look, I heard she’s not talking to her parents. She won’t talk to Charlotte about it, so I don’t know what the deal is, but rumor around the Bradford Agency is that Julie is pushing Jacob to herdad, trying to convince him to make him the assistant managing director after she left. Supposedly, she wrote a recommendation letter and everything.”

She’s doing what?!

She’s professional, and even though I wish she’d just asked her dad to fire him the first time they broke up, she’s not like that.

She has too much compassion for people.

Which I love her even more for.

But she loves that company. She always said it was her future, and ultimately it would become her company. Why would she give her ex-boyfriend more of a voice inhercompany?

Why would she quit and move to LA, Jason?

Unless she’s still not over him and tried to force it by moving to a different state? Cut ties as much as she can, including the company?

“Why would she do that if she hates him?” Jordan asks, speaking for me.

“Exactly,” Hunter chimes in, a little triumph in his voice.

“She wouldn’t,” Jordan agrees.

I shake my head at both of them. “You two are looking for shit that isn’t there. She’s still stuck in his goddamn claws, that’s all. She wantshim.”

Hunter chuckles, and I give him a dull expression. “What?”

“Yeah, I was just eavesdropping after I’d put the kids to bed, and I’m pretty sure she’d love to rip off Jacob's balls and feed them to a bobcat. She clearly doesn’t want him.”

Hope swells in my chest, and I mentally knock it back with a sledgehammer. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”

Hunter’s sigh is deep and loud—fuck, so loud. Who knew a big tattooed guy like that can be such a drama queen?

“Look, man. If that’s how you feel, that’s how you feel. But don’t make the same mistake I did.”

“It’s bullshit,” sounds on my right.

“Shut up, Jordan.”

“No, I mean it. You fucking love her, and despite her not telling everything, she loves you too.”

“She doesn’t.”Clearly,she fucking doesn’t.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting here with a cheap bourbon and a broken heart now, would I?

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