Page 109 of Love Without Demands

“Oh hey! Cruz, right?” He gave me a smug smile. “I live here now.”

My fists balled up at my sides as I tried to control my anger. “What do you mean you live here?”

“I just moved here. I got transferred by my architectural firm.”

“Lehra…” I said but was unable to form any other words.

“Yeah, I talked to her a couple hours ago.”

No way. No fucking way.

Unable to even look at him, I stormed off down the corridor to the elevator bank, stabbing the button so hard I cracked my fingernail.

I was absolutely furious but also hurt, as though someone was stabbing a white-hot poker directly into my chest.There’s no way she’s going back to him, right?She said she wanted to be in a relationship with me. She said she wanted to make this work.

When I walked into the station, I didn’t even remember how I got there. My brain was going ninety miles an hour while my heart was cracked into pieces in my chest.

“Look alive today, guys,” Curly told us. “There’s a big political rally downtown, and we have to make sure everyone plays nice.”

We made it through the workday with only a couple small skirmishes, which we dealt with quickly. But it had been enough to keep me distracted for a bit.

As I stripped off my gear, I heard my phone ping. Checking it, I found a message from Lehra.

Tink: Hey, I was wondering if I could come over tonight.

Shit. I couldn’t deal with her breaking up with me right now. I needed time to process, so I replied back.

Cruz: Not tonight. I’m not feeling great.

Tink: Oh no! Do you need me to come take care of you?

What the hell is she playing at?

Cruz: Just need some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.

Tomorrow came approximately one million hours later. At least that’s what it seemed like while I ran every horrible scenario over and over in my head.

I trudged to the kitchen and put on some coffee. I had to be at work again in a couple hours, and I needed to get my mind clear.

As soon as I took my first sip, I heard my front door open.

“Cruz?” a soft voice called out, and my heart rate doubled, both in excitement to see her and fear of what she was going to say.

“In the kitchen,” I replied, hearing the tremble in my own voice.

Her sweet smile was coated with sympathy when she walked in, and it almost killed me. She was about to do it. She was going to ruin my life.

“Are you okay?” she asked, walking toward me and pressing a cool hand against my forehead. “You don’t feel like you have a fever.” I hated that I still craved her sweet touch. This was going to kill me.

“I’m fine,” I replied curtly.

“What was wrong with you? Was it your stomach?”

No, my heart, I thought.

“Did you need something, Lehra?”

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion at the ice in my voice. “I just wanted to check on you. I was worried.”

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