Page 63 of Yearn

I had no clue any longer who was the prey and who was the predator.

I stopped a few feet in front of her. My voice was a rough growl of sound. “What are you doing here?”

Landon stepped forward. She was still in her uniform from Red and must’ve come straight here. This was fucked up in so many ways. “I need to talk to you.”

My teeth ground together. I tried one last time. “Get out of here, Landon. There’s nothing here for you.”

One single word broke me. It fell from her perfect, full lips in a ragged whisper.

“Please.”

And God help me.

I let her in.

Chapter Thirty

Landon

Listen to Vampire

by Olivia Rodrigo

Max was pounding on the door.

I thought of not answering and staying quiet until he went away. Unfortunately, I knew both of us were working at Red tonight and the confrontation couldn’t be avoided. I’d barely slept, and my damn eyes were red and swollen from crying, but damned if I was going to cower.

I let him in.

He looked wary as he stepped past me, wearing an oversized hoodie, jeans and sneakers and holding a large coffee. Awkwardly, he handed me the cup. “Brought you a skinny vanilla latte,” he said. His voice held all the proper apologetic notes, which made me angrier.

“Thanks so much. Definitely makes up for putting your dick in another woman.”

He winced but didn’t try to defend. “There’s nothing I can say to make things right.”

I studied his face. Regret carved out his features and those blue eyes shone with a shame I didn’t think he was faking. Not that it mattered. Everything he did from now on made me question him.

“You’re right.” I sipped my latte with shaky fingers, hating how angry tears burned my lids. “I wouldn’t even try.”

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I know what I did was unforgivable, but I’m begging you to listen.”

“Don’t call me baby.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest for protection and glared at him with hatred. “I thought the cheating was the biggest betrayal. But now I think it’s the lying. The constant gaslighting. Asking me to trust you until I felt like I was the one in the wrong by suspecting you. You looked me in the eye and swore you didn’t do anything in Long Beach. God, Max, who are you? Why did you do this to us?”

He lifted his hands up in appeal. His voice broke. “Landon, I made a terrible mistake. I fucked up the best thing in my life and I’ll never forgive myself. There is no excuse. All I can say is I got drunk and I don’t remember any of it.”

Bitterness choked me. “Don’t! God, really? TheI don’t rememberexcuse is beneath you. I’d have more respect if you told me you just needed to get laid and she was the best candidate.”

He jerked. “Of course, you won’t believe me, but it’s the truth. When I found out what I did I was sick. I threw up the next morning.”

I gave him a twisted smile. “Oh, I bet you threw up because you found out there was a video.”

He rubbed his hands over his face. “I lost my mind when I found someone had taped it. All I could think of is how a few lost moments in time could ruin everything good in my life. I was desperate to keep it from you because I knew there’d be no forgiveness and I knew I couldn’t live without you.”

“Well, now you have to.” I hated this—hated his sad eyes and broken voice and cheap apologies. I wanted to haul myself across the room and beat the shit out of him. I wanted him to hurt like I did, and I wanted to cry because he’d ruined all of the possibilities and hope between us. “There’s no going back or forward. It’s over.”

---