Page 26 of Landlord Daddy's Girl

“Don’t touch me,” I spit.

“Sierra—”

He takes another step toward me, and with my hands raised to keep from touching him, I back up again, determined to keep him away from me. He doesn’t even seem to understand just how badly he’s hurt me. Shaking my head, I step around him and head for the door. Before I get there, I turn and fix him with the iciest glare I can manage.

“You know, I knew this might cause a bump in the road, but I thought you were mature enough to accept it,” I say. “I just thought maybe you’d be happy for me. That maybe, all you wanted for me was somebody who treated me well and brought joy to my life. I was dumb enough to believe you’d want the best for me. My bad.”

“Sierra—”

“No,” I snap. “Stay away from me and stay out of my life.”

And with that, I yank the door open and walk away from my brother, not bothering to slam the door behind me since I know it won’t stay closed, anyway. As I rush out of the building and to the parking lot, tears spill down my face. I should be overjoyed right now, but my relationship with Derek has been shattered into a million pieces, and all I can feel is the pain of a loss that hurts every bit as much as when I lost my parents.

I’ve never felt so utterly alone in all my life.

15

SLATER

It’s been a few days since the blowout at my place with Derek. Sierra and I haven’t spoken since, and it’s been killing me. But the last thing I want to do is cause any more problems between her and her brother—something I knew was a real possibility when we first started up together. The whole time we were doing our thing, I knew it would be a problem for Derek. But the more time I spent with Sierra, the harder I tried to convince myself that he’d be okay with it and would be happy for us. Delusion is almost as powerful and addictive a drug as Sierra is.

The truth was I stopped caring long ago whether Derek approved of us or not. I was being selfish. Foolish. And now, my relationship with my best friend, not to mention the relationship with a woman I care about more than I ever thought I’d care about anybody, is in absolute shambles. With a sigh, I knock on the door and wait. A moment later, it opens, and Moni is standing in front of me. She frowns.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey.”

“Sierra here?”

She hesitates, and for a moment, it doesn’t look like she’s going to let me in. Sierra’s obviously upset I went radio silent on her for the last few days. I don’t blame her. Eventually, Moni opens the door and steps aside. I step into the dorm room and find Sierra sitting cross-legged on her bed. She’s wearing pink sweats, thick gray socks, and a gray hoodie. Her hair is a mess, her eyes are red and puffy, and she’s holding a crumpled tissue in her fist. Seeing her like that makes me feel like an absolute asshole.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey.”

“I’m going to go grab some coffee,” Moni says. “I’ll be back.”

She gathers her things and scampers out of the room, leaving us alone. I stand in the middle of the room and slide my hands into my pockets, not quite sure how to begin.

“I tried calling you. Texted you too,” she said.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why did you just ignore me?”

“I wanted to call you back.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I just thought, after what happened with your brother, that we both needed a little time.”

“Would have been nice if you’d told me that,” she says.

“I know,” I reply softly. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” she asks. “Why did you ignore me?”

I sigh and sit on the edge of her bed. Unable to look her in the eye, I gaze at the floor beneath my feet.

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