Page 64 of Yearn

“Please, Landon. Just take some time. I swear I’ll prove myself to you no matter how long it takes. I’ll do anything for you—you’re the love of my life.”

“If I was, you wouldn’t have fucked another girl!”

He hung his head and I clenched my fists, hating him with all my energy. My heart was a throbbing, raw wound and I wondered if I’d ever trust anyone again. What was it about me that made me so unlovable? My father. My mother. Now Max. Was I so disposable and easy to forget?

“I know. But I’m going to show you I can be the man you need me to be. I swear to you, Landon, I’m going to make things right. I won’t go on any trips without you. I’ll dedicate all my time and energy to this relationship. I will heal us if you think about giving me one more chance.”

He lifted his head and I watched tears run down his cheeks. I’d never seen Max cry. Didn’t know if he could. Slowly, he got on his knees in front of me while I stared in a combination of horror and shock and satisfaction.

“I love you so much. I’m nothing without you, baby, nothing. I will make this right. Please let me make this right.”

It was an epic apology. A surge of justice from his obvious pain soothed some of the gaping wounds, but it was too late.

There was nothing left of us to salvage or save.

“It’s over, Max. Please get out.”

I waited for him to fight me, revving myself up to scream and throw him the hell out. But he got to his feet, wiped the damp tracks of tears off his face, and slowly walked to the door.

“I won’t give up on us, Landon. I know this is worth fighting for, even though you don’t believe it. And I’m going to show you.”

The door closed softly behind him.

I wanted to smash dishes and vases in an old-fashioned temper tantrum but I refused to make a mess in my apartment. There was one thing left to do in order to get through the day without going insane.

I called Elle and told her to come over and that I’d broken up with Max.

“Are you sure you’re okay to be here?” Elle asked worriedly.

Red was packed since there were a bunch of summer street fairs and concerts in the area. The lounge throbbed with a dark, sexy vibe, and I’d been given a few eight and twelve tops to deal with. But the tips were extra generous and damned if I was going to allow Max to run me out of here. He’d tried to come see me before my shift but I shut him down.

He’d been stuck behind the bar without a break and I was glad. The last thing I needed was his puppy dog eyes trailing me and his ridiculous vows of making it all right. The women trying to catch his gaze were all way too eager, and I wanted to tell them the best way to catch his attention is pretending he’s not even there. Maybe they’d have better luck than I did.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder all day.” Elle had come right over with wine, croissants, potato chips, and cheese. I wasn’t an ice cream girl and preferred carbs and salt. I sobbed and got tipsy and made a fuck-you video live that I could send Max whenever I wanted.

“Babe, I’m here for you. I couldn’t even talk to Coop today I was so pissed. No way he didn’t know about Max cheating. I hate all these guys lying for each other and thinking it’s bro code. Coop should have told me.”

I went to the right side of the bar to pick up my drinks, smiling at Randy, the other bartender. I ignored Max’s longing look. No way was I even talking to him tonight. I’d already asked Randy to do all my drinks, and he agreed. Max was already shooting him death glare looks because he knew Randy had wanted to get in my pants since day one.

“Coop didn’t tell you because he knew you’d tell me,” I reminded her. “They’ll always stick together.”

“Well, if you end up killing him, I’ll be your alibi,” Elle said with a wink. “And if you need to cut out early let me know. I’ll make sure Rock doesn’t give you shit.”

Randy leaned over the bar. His greedy gaze snagged on my short skirt. “Heard you’re single,” he drawled. “Bad for Max. Great for us.”

I laughed. Randy loved to flirt but no way was I getting entangled with him. “I’m laying off bartenders for a while,” I teased, determined not to be all sad and mopey at Red. The best revenge is to enjoy myself and show Max I wasn’t going to cry over his betrayal.

“Sure you don’t want to lay this one?” he teased back, deftly pouring a beer as he gave me sexy eyes.

“Gonna think on it,” I called back, tossing my hair. I enjoyed the attention as much as I enjoyed Max shooting daggers at Randy. Max had always been possessive, and easy to manipulatewhen it came to men’s attention on me. We kept a tight leash on each other for a reason, but now that he’d broken it, I was going to make him bleed with regret.

Gabby came running over and before I could say anything, she gave me a big hug. “Landon, I’m so sorry,” she said. Her features reflected distress. “What a prick. I heard about the video.”

Everyone had now heard about the video.

Nothing spread faster or hotter than gossip, especially at Red. I didn’t even bother to ask who’d said something, because it didn’t matter. We were all part of the gossip ring here and all took our turns.

Normally, I’d distance myself from Gabby. Yes, we’d been getting closer, but this type of hurt I saved for my closest friends I trusted completely. But something had shifted between us after Atlantic City. She’d been showing up for me, checking in, sharing my social posts and making me laugh. She wasn’t being fake—I could tell the way she looked at me with such passion and regret that she was just as pissed at Max.

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