Page 89 of From You to Me

“Is your throat still hurting you?” a familiar voice asked from behind me.

“A bit,” I said as I pivoted, giving him a small smile.

He nodded as he opened the drawer by the sink and pulled out some ibuprofen. “This should help.”

I mumbled thanks as I took it from him, my eyes instantly landing on the broken skin on his knuckles. “Jay,” I whispered as I held his hand which he tried to recede but I wouldn’t let go. I traced a soft finger on the split red marks. “What happened?” I asked, frowning as I met his gaze. It looked like he punched someone hard.

“You didn’t think I was going to let the man who put his hands on you and my sister get away that easily, did you?”

My breath hitched as my heart thundered a hammering pulse. “You punched T?” I shrieked.

He shrugged, his face giving nothing away.

“But he’s a dangerous guy, Jay.”

“Not to me, he’s not, Evelyn. I think you forgot that I’m not the same guy anymore. But he won’t bother you again.”

I nodded, not knowing what to say. “You need to ice it,” I muttered as I dug around for an ice pack and wrapped a towel around it.

I pressed it to his knuckles, rubbing my thumb along the calluses on his fingers. He watched me with an intent gaze, not saying a word.

“You need to be more careful. It’s your guitar-playing hand.”

He raised a brow. “It’s not the first time I punched a guy because of you.”

A burning blaze swallowed my throat. “You’re never going to trust me, are you?”

“No,” he stated like he truly believed it.

Well, I did what I could in the name of our love. If this was what the universe had in store for us, then I couldn’t do a thing to change destiny. But a soulful smile tugged at my lips as a freeing breath left me. I was finally free, though. Free from the debt and the secret that had been haunting me for years. If Jay didn’t believe me, that was his problem. I got to live my life now, something I should’ve done a long time ago.

CHAPTER 20

Jay and I settled into somewhat of a bearable routine. Although I insisted my apartment was safe to go back to now, Jay wouldn’t let me. He even offered to rent out an apartment for me, but I refused. I didn’t want any of his kindness or money anymore, not when he didn’t really care.

“You do realize you are a resident at this apartment, right?”

I shrugged. “Who cares?” I waved a hand around. “I don’t own a thing here.”

“But still you live here, shouldn’t you be writing inside your fancy library or something, instead of sticking here like a sore thumb while I’m busy doing my job.”

“I’m spending time with my best friend. And by job, you mean playing coin master on your phone while you flirt with unsuspecting hot milfs who don’t have a clue that you’re gay.”

“Shush.” He hushed, loudly. “Don’t you dare fucking let my secret out! Now get out of here before I kick you out. And you’re messing up the image of the front desk.” He gestured to my attire; the old sweats, my bun held together by a pencil, and my unwashed face.

Today was my day off, and the gang was out at some event. Thankfully, the girls didn’t badger me to tag along. So I decided to catch up on my editing. Now that I was done with the draft, I was going back and revising to make it as perfect as it could be.

Thankfully, Tyler was able to find someone to fix my laptop for cheap. They even added some new parts so it was better than it once was, and recovered all my files so my manuscript was safe.

“Fine.” I stepped out of the reception, poking my tongue out to Gabe while I walked back to the penthouse. I actually didn’t want to stay in the apartment because I didn’t want to be there when Jay returned. I knew he always had someone on his arm during these events. I didn’t know if it was PR or not, but if it wasn’t, did he bring them back home? I didn’t know if my heart could handle seeing another girl when only a wall separated our bedrooms.

We’d been co-living like cordial friends, exchanging respectful pleasantries. Not a word about anything else.

I was swirling the sauce for my pasta when I heard the front door open. My hand stilled on the spoon when footsteps approached me.

The tension in the air changed instantly as he occupied the entryway.

“You’re back early,” I mumbled like a fool.

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