Page 6 of Crossroads of Love

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

“News flash, youhavebeen dating your brother’s ex-girlfriend! Aaron will be fine about our relationship. He’s dating someone else. Go to the party with me so that we can…”

Oof, the amount of whine in that last sentence makes me cringe. I cannot let him see what his cruelty is doing to me.

I can’t give him that satisfaction.

“No. I won’t do that to my brother.”

“Again, you’ve been doing it. I’m not sure how you’re justifying what you did with me just now versus going to a damn party back home with me. You’ll be with me nonstop for the past three months, fuck me daily, but you’re too embarrassed of me to be around people we know? Is that it? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“No, Lena. You knew getting into this that…you’re my little brother’s ex-girlfriend. I can’t destroy my relationship with him over…”

You.

He stops without finishing the sentence, and that feels as though he’s just stabbed me in the heart to finish me off. I close my eyes and pray that the tears don’t fall yet.

“Yet you don’t care what you’re doing to me right now? Right?”

I open my eyes and stare into his, looking for even the hint of a flicker of regret or fear, and I see nothing.

Here I am. I’ve fallen head over heels for this man, and he can’t stand the thought of being seen in public with me back home.

I can feel the tightness in my throat, the heaviness in my chest, and the tears burning my eyes. My stomach hurts. I want to curl up in the corner and not move. I’ve never experienced pain like this before in my life.

It wasn’t like this when Aaron and I broke up.

I won’t be able to rein in my emotions much longer. I need to get out of here. I wait a little too long for him to respond, and when he doesn’t, I want to vomit.

“I’m out. Fuck you, Gavin Wells.”

I turn on my heel and rush out of that apartment as if it’s on fire.

I can’t believe I fell for his lies.

He calls after me, but I don’t stop. I won’t let him see me crying.

Aaron always told me his brother was a player of the worst sort, but I didn’t want to believe him. I guess I have the proof I need now.

Chapter One

Gavin

Igrip the steering wheel tighter, knuckles white, as I watch the highway miles shrink behind me. My sleek black Maserati rental from the car service is out of place here, its engine purring like a predator among the dusty trucks and battered sedans that roll along these pothole-filled roads.

“I should have landed my Cessna right in the middle of town. That would give people something to talk about,” I say out loud to myself.

One of the many perks of having my pilot’s license and my own plane means that I can fly in and out of my hometown without having to fly commercial or make the long trip from New York.

A few more miles to go. Too few.

The old sign for Hicks Creek appears on the right, faded and worn.

Home. It hasn't felt like home in a long time.

The last time I passed that sign, I told myself I’d never see it again. Dad and I had a huge fight that caused me to stopspeaking to him. Now, here I am, driving back because my father is dead. Obligation, duty, whatever the hell you want to call it, has its claws in me. I’ve never been good at emotions and vulnerability.

“You’re dating Lena Marshall?” Dad growled at me in the kitchen on Thanksgiving night.

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