Page 99 of Obsessed with the Heartbreaker

His tone made the hairs at the back of my neck rise up with trepidation, but our attention was drawn to the intruder currently stepping into the kitchen.

“Keller?”

A punch to the gut.

He had a stupidly satisfied grin on his face, one that fell a bit when he saw both of us here. Henry initially gave him a glare, but his expression then changed into another fake smile. “Have you met my new best friend yet?”

I felt frozen on the spot, and Keller’s eyes widened with fear when Henry said that. “I, uh…are we?”

“No. Get the fuck out of here.”

Keller left.

I stared at Henry, speechless for a long moment. “Were you trying to make me jealous? Because it’s not going to work. Especially if you can’t even stick to the act for longer than two seconds,” I said, even as I felt a little nauseous on the inside.

Henry was a very bad actor, but if one thing was clear by now, it was that he was upset.

Upset, and willing to burn the world down.

“I’m not trying to make you jealous.”

“Then whatareyou doing?”

Expression pained, his eyes were already reddening, which told me that there was no way tonight was going to end well.

I just knew it.

“I want you to leave,” Henry said, jaw clenching. “I want you to hate me. And most of all, I want to hateyou.”

His words knocked the breath out of me. I should have expected them, I should have beenpreparedfor them, but after the past few weeks, I thought we’d gotten over this.

I thought we were finally moving forward.

“Why?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. “Why are you doing this now? I thought—”

“Because this is never going anywhere!” he cried out, voice ragged and raw. “And I’m sick and tired of playing make-believe games. Of getting my hopes up for nothing. So just leave.”

This was happening. We were finally facing the precipice.

“No.”

“You want to make it difficult?”

“Yes.” Because I was also tired of games. Tired of hoping and wishing.

But Henry’s eyes sharpened instead of softening. “Then I’ll make it very easy for you. I heard everything you said to my father this afternoon.”

My blood froze inside my veins.

No.

I’d wanted to tell him myself, I’d wanted to explain—

“Henry, let me—”

But he didn’t want to hear any of it. “You’re released from our deal and our pact. You’re free.” Turning around, hands on his hips, looking at the floor like he was trying to keep himself from breaking, he added, “Now goodbye, and have a good life.”

Henry was hurt,veryhurt, and I had been the one to do it.

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