Page 94 of Crush

Don’t worry. It’s not like we’re together anyway.I pointed out, hating the way my heart ached as I typed.

Don’t do that.

Do what?I fired back.

Act like you don’t care. Nothing is going on with Natalie, not since you. Max messaged. Ah, so itwastheannoyingNatalie. That confession pissed me off even more.

My phone started ringing and I ended the call without answering.

If you don’t answer me, I’m coming over.

Do what you want. I won’t be here.I thumbed in. Let him sweat a bit.

What does that mean? Where are you going? You know it isn’t safe.

I keyed in,Nothing to do with you. If you can keep secrets, so can I.

That’s rich. I know you’ve been with Harker.

My brow scrunched.What?

I saw you with him outside work. Why didn’t you tell me?

I held my breath. So, he’s seen us together. That would explain his strange messages. I wondered if he’d been with Natalie to get back at me.

Pushing that thought from the back of my mind I messaged him.

There wasn’t any point. So, what? I spoke with him. You didn’t see me with my tongue down his throat.I knew my messages proved how jealous I was. And if I was jealous, it meant I cared about him and Max would know that. But the fact that he was so desperate to explain what IthoughtI saw proved he had to care for me too right?

A lump the size of London formed in my throat. Hell, relationships, or whatever we were playing at was draining my lifeforce.

Seeing Max kissing another woman on top of Zander’s creepy behaviour was too much and I had to get away for a few nights. I messaged Mia and asked if I could stay with her for a few days and she replied with a yes and a party-faced emoji.

After I had messaged Mia, I saw Max had sent more texts.Please, let me come and see you to explain.

I need some time to get my head straight.

Today was a misunderstanding. It’s you I want.

Rolling my eyes, I messaged.Yeah right. You mean my body.

His next message gave me hope. For a change, it was there in black print on my phone.No, I want you. ALL of you.

Just give me a few days to clear my head. Then we will talk.

Where are you going? If you don’t tell me, I’ll find you and then there will be hell to pay.Max messaged. They say you can’t read a tone from a text message but aggression bounced out of that one. It gave me a thrill, I’m not going to lie.

I’m going to stay with Mia. I explained so he didn’t worry or hunt me down.

What about my thirtieth? Will you be back for drinks? I want to introduce you to my friends. Why would I do that if I only care about your body?

Maybe you want to show me off as your latest trophy. I look good on your arm remember?I messaged, throwing what he’d said to me when he’d invited me to the charity ball back in his face.

You’ll look better under me.Max shot back and that cocky arrogance of his annoyed me like it used to.

Under the circumstances of what I saw tonight. Go fuck yourself.I shot back. What part of giving me time to clear my head did he not understand? Again, it was all on Max’s terms.

Fine, be that way. You know where I am. Just don’t miss me too much.

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