Page 237 of By His Play

“I don’t need to do anything,” I shoot back, my anger kicking up a notch again.

As soon as I step into his space, he lifts his hands and shoves me hard in the chest.

“Back the fuck down,” he warns.

“Come on, man,” Jamie says, having appeared at some point during our standoff.

“Fine,” I huff, aware that I sound like a petulant toddler, before I turn my back on them and storm away.

57

EFFIE

The first time my cell rings, I don’t bother looking at it.

I already know it won’t be Kieran.

Not that I’d actually want to talk to him if he did call me.

Right now, I’d happily never speak to him again.

I sit curled up on my couch with my legs pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them.

My eyes are puffy and sore from crying, and my heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest and stomped on, but despite the hurt, the anger still simmers beneath the surface.

How dare he talk to me like that?

But then another memory slams into me.

“I was going to tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you tonight.”

Another sob erupts as I remember his words so vividly.

He was going to tell me exactly what I wanted to tell him.

Any excitement or fear I was feeling over the changes in our relationship have vanished. There is nothing but agony in its wake.

How could he think I was dating Brax?

I thought he knew me better than that.

If I wanted Brax, I could have done something about it a long time ago.

Just like you could have with Kieran, a little voice pipes up.

When my cell begins ringing for a second time, I reach out and turn it over to see who it is.

My breath catches when I find Brax’s smiling face filling my screen.

The tears I thought I’d run out of fill my eyes all over again.

All he’s been is a good friend.

Sure, we might have been captured looking more intimate that we actually were last night. But that’s just the media. Kieran knows all too well how they can spin things to suit them and their story.

I blow out a long, slow breath.

Brax knows that we should be out on our big date right now.

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