Page 85 of Weak Side

Where are you, Bryant?

I caught a quick glimpse of Angie’s face when she saw me, and in that quick moment, I watched the sharp switch of emotions move from relief to panic. When I landed on the booth in the back corner, I stumbled backward, seeming to lose my footing.

My face stayed steady, but every one of my sore muscles screamed in agony as my body stiffened. Claire’s pretty pink lips were parted as she placed her hands on top of the table, and when I saw Chad look over his shoulder at me, I wanted to burn The Bex to ashes.

There was chaos around me. Fans came up and patted me on the shoulder, telling me,“Good game,”and asking me about the next one, but not a single word left me. I stood in the same spot and stared at Claire as she snapped my heart in two. I didn’t think it was possible to feel your heart breaking, but it was. I felt every last snap with every blink of her eye, but instead of going over and ripping her worthless ex out of the booth, I knew I was a better man than that. So, I turned around, got in my car, and went back to our dorm room, hoping she didn’t come home.

42

Claire

“Well, that was dramatic,”Chad said, pushing himself into the back of the booth. I wanted to take my drink and pour it on his lap for the third time in ten minutes.

Seeing the look on Theo’s face made me want to run after him, but instead, I stayed unmoving across the table from Chad and continued on with what I came here to do. In true Chad fashion, he wasn’t taking no for an answer, but what he didn’t realize was that he didn't have power over me any longer.

No one did.

I was growing impatient, even more so with Theo ripping out of the parking lot with thoughts going through his head that weren't accurate at all. I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrows at my ex.

“You were saying that your parents called.”

Chad took his glasses off and slipped them into the front pocket of his polo. I grabbed my glass of soda and took a mouthful, preparing myself for what was to come.

“They told me that your mother resigned.”

“I am aware,” I countered.

His eyebrows edged upward in surprise. “Did you have something to do with it?”

I shook my head because I didn’t have anything to do with it—not necessarily. “I didn’t tell her to quit, but I did inform her of our situation.”

Chad glanced away nervously. “Our situation?”

My mother surprised me. When I showed up at home, she was just getting in from cleaning Mr. Yates’s estate. Her hair was in a messy bundle on top of her head, and her cheeks were shimmering with dried sweat. She paused in the doorway and dropped her cleaning supplies before pulling me in for a familiar hug, only to drop her arms a few seconds later when she realized something was wrong.

I’d started off with Chad, explaining everything that had happened at the start of the semester. Part of me was fearful she’d tell me to suck it up because it was obvious that my mother wanted a life of wealth for me, but instead, she was appalled, and it didn’t take longer than a second for her to snatch her phone, call Chad’s mother, and immediately tell her that her son was a misogynistic, unfaithful asshole and that her daughter deserved better. She also informed her that she would no longer be cleaning their house, and she was more than welcome to spread rumors to her wealthy friends and ruin my mother’s complete clientele. I couldn’t contain my laughter when she added in the part where she told her that Chad must have learned such repulsive behavior from her husband, considering she had found used condoms in their guest house that he often frequented.

My mother tossed her phone to the side, and we both laughed for several minutes, but the laughter slowly faded when I eased into the next conversation, knowing it was something that wasn’t even remotely funny. I wasn’t sure what I expected to come out of her mouth when I told her that Tom had found me, but what I had hoped for, though, was that there was a more logical reason for her decision to completely cut him out of my life. I needed there to be a reason that wasn’t vindictive or unforgiving.

And thankfully, there was. My mother wasn’t a saint, and she was well aware of the hurt that she likely caused my father by taking me, but her reasoning wasn’t all that hard to understand. Her eyes welled up when she walked me through her decision of leaving, and it was the first time in my entire life that I heard her speak of my father with regret instead of anger. It all came down to self-preservation. She said he was understanding of her concerns that she wouldn’t be able to provide and take care of the both of us, and so when he accepted her decision, she knew that if she didn’t completely remove herself from his life, she wouldn’t have the willpower to give me all that I deserved—a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and the possibility to have a semi-normal life with an even better future.

Things were wonky right now, but they were at least out in the open.

“Claire,” Chad snapped, pulling me back to reality. “What do you mean, ‘our situation’?”

“Chad…” I grabbed a hold of his hand and gave it the smallest squeeze, even though I didn’t necessarily want to touch him. “I don’t love you.”

At first, I saw the anger, but then I saw the fear. His hand quickly came out from below mine, and he put both of his on top, caging my palm against the table. “Yes, you do, and I love you. Look, I’m sorry for…” He sighed. “I’m sorry for cheating on you. And I’m sorry for everything after. Seeing you with him made me realize what you must have felt when you saw me, and I hate myself for it.”

I shook my head in denial because Chad was wrong. Was it a knock to my confidence when I found him cheating? Absolutely. Was I drowning in betrayal and doubting nearly every person I came into contact with because of his actions? Of course. But that wasn’t love. What Chad had felt for me wasn’t love, and my heart didn’t break in the way that it did when I saw the look of hurt on Theo’s face last weekend when I told him we were never supposed to last.

“You don’t love me.”

Chad began to panic as he leaned in closer to me and dropped his voice to argue. “Yes, I do.”

“Love isn’t forcing someone to give up their wants and dreams for your own, and love isn’t trying to change someone to be what you want. Love isn’t blackmailing either.”

“Okay, fine. I won’t try to change you. I like you the way you are.”

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