Page 54 of Fractured Dreams

Eden’s brow creased, confused by the strangeness of his tone again. She pushed herself up to sitting, reaching for the blanket hanging over the back of the chair and covering herself.

She checked the time on the wall clock. “I’ll have to leave soon, but we’ve got a little time. And there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

He looked back at his glass, avoiding her gaze. “Actually, Eden, I think we need to stop this. What we’re doing.”

“That’s what I was going to say. I think we should tell Noah. Together. Tomorrow.”

He still wouldn’t look at her. “No, I mean, I think we should stop seeing each other. I don’t think it’s going to work out.”

Eden’s heart stuttered in her chest, the blood draining from her face. She didn’t bother to ask if he was joking. Tex wasn’t the kind of person to joke about something like that.

“I don’t understand. Why? What changed between New York and now?” She had a sudden realization, and heat flooded her face. “Was…was it because I said I love you?” she whispered.

He started to shake his head but then stopped himself. “I didn’t realize it had got to that stage, that you’d started feeling that way. I never wanted to hurt you, Eden, but I’ve had some time to think, after what happened in New York. I like you, a lot; you’re a sweet girl. But I should have broken things off before now. It’s just… things between us physically are great, and I wanted to give it a shot, to see if it could be more. I kept hoping that my feelings would… would deepen, but it didn’t happen the way I hoped. You’re a lot younger than me, and I think that’s begun to show. New York just brought it home.”

“You’re saying I’m too young for you? That I’m too… too immature?” Eden said slowly. She would almost think this was a dream, that she was still half asleep on the couch, except she’d never felt pain in a dream the way she was feeling it right now.

He nodded, still not looking at her. “With you heading to Oregon soon, it seems like a good time to make a clean break.”

“And Noah, he never needs to find out?” she asked, her voice still slow. It was as if her mind were trapped in molasses, struggling to process what was happening.

“Yeah, I figure we just keep it between ourselves. It’s not worth risking him having a meltdown when this relationship isn’t going anywhere.”

“No, not worth the risk,” she repeated. He meantshewasn’t worth the risk. She hadn’t been enough for Tanner or Mason, and after everything, it turned out she wasn’t enough for Tex either.

Eden tried every trick she knew to stop the tears coming; she didn’t want to show him how badly she was hurting. No wonder he hadn’t said he loved her back. And how stupid of her to think he was showing her how he felt. Against her best efforts, hot tears welled up uncontrollably, spilling over and scalding her cheeks as they trickled down her face.

Hard on the heels of the tears though, came anger, so much anger she almost choked on it. “And did you know you were going to break it off before I came over? Is that why you were acting so strangely?”

He nodded, resignation clear on his face.

“You knew, and you… you slept with me anyway?” Fury and nausea churned through Eden. He’d slept with her, made her believe he was feeling something he wasn’t, all the time knowing he was going to break up with her. “How could you? How. Could. You.”

Tex dropped his head in his hands. “Fuck. I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t. I’m such an asshole, Eden. You’re fucking better off without me.”

“Yes. I am,” she said, standing and pulling her clothes on as tears continued falling from her eyes. At least he had the decency to look away while she did it. After dressing, she wiped her cheeks with the backs of her hands, then bent down and grabbed her purse from where she’d dropped it on the table.

She walked toward the door, stopping alongside him where he sat, head down, staring into his glass of whiskey. “Is there someone else? H-have there been others?”

His head jerked up. “Fuck no. No Eden, there’s no one else. I promise. I just—I realized you’re not the one, and you deserve better than someone who’s not in it for the long term.”

She nodded, feeling cold, like all the warmth and happiness had been sucked out of her. “I’ll get tested anyway,” she said. He flinched but said nothing.

She took a step past him, then stopped, eyes focused on the door. “You were right when you said you weren’t like Mason.” She forced herself to meet his eyes. “It only took you two months to break my heart.” Then she turned and walked away.

Chapter 31

“It only took you two months to break my heart.”

Tex struggled to draw his next breath, torn apart by Eden’s words. He gripped the glass in his hand so hard his knuckles turned white, waiting until her car engine started up before standing, turning, and hurling it against the wall, glass shards ricocheting in all directions. If he thought smashing the glass would ease his pain, he was wrong. It rolled over him hard and fast, bringing him to his knees.

At that moment he hated himself, for touching Eden in the first place, for making her promises he couldn’t keep, for breaking her heart. And he hated Noah for forcing him to see it was the right thing to do.

He’d been so wrapped up in her, drunk on her kisses, whispering promises in the dark of night, all the while telling himself he wasn’t like his dad, that she wouldn’t end up like his mother, tied to a life—a man—she didn’t want. Well, she wouldn’t be, he’d made sure of that. He’d just had to cut his own heart out, and hers, to make sure of it.

But Eden would be okay. She was nothing if not resilient. Smart, sweet, beautiful, and far stronger than people thought. She’d thrive in Oregon. She’d forget about what they’d had, she’d date, travel, work hard doing what she loved, succeed at her job, and eventually meet the lucky bastard that would make her his wife.

Fuck. He staggered to his feet. He needed a drink. More than one. He went to the bar and grabbed the first bottle he could get his hands on. Oblivion was beckoning, and he was all in.

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