Page 104 of The Billionaire Boss and the Barista

“Me.”

The panic and self-recrimination rose, his constant companions. Garrett clutched her to him, his grip a little too hard.

Emma pushed away, but she was still wrapped around him, his cock embedded in her.

He held her hips, not wanting to let her go. “Go ahead and ask.”

“Was there someone else?” she whispered.

He knew she meant another girl. But that wasn’t it. “Your ex, Edward.”

She tensed in his arms. “Edward?”

He didn’t blame her for her incredulity. “Please keep in mind that I was a card-carrying moron back then.”

“I don’t understand. What did Edward do?”

“You headed back to school. I missed you so fucking much. I called you every day. We made do. But the month before spring break, you were different. Distant. I had a hard time getting you on the phone and your text responses were short. When I asked you what was wrong, you said midterms were stressingyou out.”

“But?”

He told her the truth he so desperately wished he could undo. “But one night I called you. It was late. Edward was in your dorm room.”

He suddenly clutched her to him, half-worried she’d run away when she realized what a raving idiot he’d been.

“It was late—almost midnight—and he was in your room. You explained that the two of you had been paired on a project for your advanced Econ class and that it hadn’t been your choice.”

He shook his head, wanting to go back in time to kick his own ass. “But I was so fucking jealous I couldn’t see straight. I jumped down your throat when you tried to explain. I was convinced Edward was the reason you hadn’t been answering my calls.”

Emma pushed back against his hands as if unconsciously trying to get away from him. “Oh. That’s um…”

“Shitty. I was being a major league asshole,” he apologized. “We spoke a handful of times after that, and each time we fought about that piece of shit.”

Garrett hung his head. “I was being unreasonable. I knew that at the time. But being long distance was so fucking hard and I was insecure about us. I was convinced Edward was trying to get you back, so I issued an ultimatum.”

Bewilderment clouded her expression. “What did you say?”

“I told you that once your project was turned in, you had to stop speaking to him,” he admitted with a wince. “I tried to dictate who you could be friends with. Bullshit you very justifiably called me out on.”

He rubbed her back, grateful she was still here, listening to him. “That’s when you told me something else was wrong, but you had to talk to me about it in person.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged helplessly. “Spring break arrived and you didn’t come home. When I asked your friends, they didn’t know where you were. Days passed and I heard nothing from you. And I was too proud to keep calling you over and over. In my head, you were the one in the wrong. A few days later, I decided continuing to call would be like begging.”

Emma pushed away and this time he let her go, even though theloss of her physically hurt. He didn’t even care that his cock was out, soaked, and still half-hard from being so close to her.

He zipped himself up as she scooted a few feet away, sitting on the other side of the couch.

Too far.

“As far as I was concerned, you had ghosted me,” he said, determined to finish to the bitter end. “Like a jackass, I threw a party that last Saturday. I told myself it was a celebration of my new freedom because I was now a single man.”

She curled her arms around herself. “Did you hook up with another girl at the party?”

“No.” His eyes widened. “No, I was still waiting for you. In my head, you showed up in another sundress, armed with a fabulous excuse for your silence, ready to promise never to speak to your ex again.”

Her lips barely cleared her arms, muffling her speech. “I guess that didn’t happen.”

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