Page 118 of Going All In

Chapter 24

She bit backthe tears that threatened to emerge. She would not cry in front of him. There would be plenty of time for that later. She’d given it a lot of thought. This was the right thing to do. Jake was never the relationship type, and even though they’d said they were in love with each other, it was going to end eventually. And their relationship was affecting her work.

That had to be her priority.

He stared at her, resignation on his face, color high in his cheeks with frustration. She hated herself for doing this, but she’d worked so hard to get to this point and she was so close to finishing her master’s. She needed to focus.

Darcy and Jake didn’t make sense. The bad boy of hockey and the scientist. Words of love aside, in the end, Darcy would end up with a broken heart. His entire history, until they started dating, was as a player. Even if she’d never seen that side of him, except online, how could he be content to just be with her?

“That’s all this is to you?” he asked. She could’ve sworn there was a weird hitch in his voice.

“Yeah. I mean, the sex is great and all. We had a lot of fun together, but yes, I think it’s time to walk away…”

“You know what, I’m not going to play these games with you, Darcy. We have something and you’re willing to throw it away because you panicked about school and whatever else is spinning around in your head. I deserve better than that.” His voice was gruff as he turned to leave.

“Jake.”

“No. I think we’re good here. Got what we wanted, right? I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Then he walked out of her apartment, bumping into Ally, who was just coming back from a run. He mumbled something and kept moving, not once looking back to see her.

Her chest ached. What the hell had she done?

Ally took one look at her and Darcy gave in, letting the tears fall unchecked down her cheeks.

“What the fuck happened? What did you do?” Ally asked, shutting the door behind her.

“What I needed to do,” Darcy said, plopping down on the couch and wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

“Explain. Now,” Ally said, tossing a box of Kleenex to Darcy before taking a seat on the edge of the coffee table.

“Why are you mad at me?” Darcy asked, between her sobs.

“Because you said you did what you needed to do, which means you probably broke up with Jake even though it’s clear that you are in love with each other. I’ve never seen you happier. Obviously, not right now,” she said, waving her hand toward Darcy’s tear-streaked face.

Darcy sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes, just in time for another bout of crying to start up.

“It wasn’t going to work out. We don’t make sense.”

“Bullshit,” Ally said.

“We don’t. I have to focus on school, and he’s a distraction. We both got what we wanted. Well, almost. Jake has new endorsement deals and he’s playing great. I know he’ll get a deal with the Strikers. And I’m so close to finishing my degree, and my mother is off my back.”

“’Cause you lied to her.”

“I know I did. This was supposed to be easy. I can’t do complicated right now. I missed a meeting. I’ve almost missed deadlines. I got sucked into his world, and it’s been a detriment to mine. That wasn’t supposed to happen.” It made complete sense when she said it out loud, but her heart was splintering and breaking at the image of how upset he looked right before his mask had come on and he’d walked out of the apartment.

“Back up. Let’s go over this. You haven’t missed any deadlines, right?” Ally asked.

“No. But Dr. Maguire said my work was slipping a little and she knew I could do better.”

“And that meant break up with Jake?”

“It meant I needed to get my priorities back in check. Let’s be honest, Jake and I weren’t going to last. Isn’t it better to get out now?” The words sounded hollow as soon as she said them, but they were logical. That’s all she could focus on right now or she would crumble more than she already has.

She twisted the damp tissue in her hand and willed away her tears.

“So, you didn’t really love him? Even though you told him you did and he said it back and you were trying to really date,” Ally said.

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