Page 132 of Down & Dirty

“How do you know what I want?”

His head jerked back as though I’d slapped him. “Because you told me what you want. You want to get your degree. You want to help people, Skylar. Not pose for assholes in magazines that sell motor oil. You don’t want to be a bikini clad spokesmodel hawking the latest rear-end suspension. Don’t try to tell me this is what you want.”

A sharp stab of pain hit me in the chest. Frustration and disappointment rushing in behind it, filling up all the corners of me until I felt like I was going to choke.

“So, it’s fine for me to pose for photographers to helpyourcareer, but not mine?”

Cory’s eyes went wide. “And how many times have we done that lately, Sky? How many times?None. And it’s not because we didn’t have the chance. It’s because I didn’t want to put you through that. And because I fucking hate having to share you.”

My ears were ringing. “But did you even ask? Did you want to know if that was what I wanted or not? No, of course not. You made those decisions all on your own. Just like you make all your decisions. Regardless of whether or not the outcome affects me just as much as you. We’re supposed to be a team, Cory. But you don’t include me. You just choose for us. Good or bad. And I have to go along with it.”

He stood there, his chest rising and falling, stunned and wounded, and I hated that we were fighting again. I hated seeing the hurt back in his eyes. But this wasn’t what we were supposed to turn into.

His words were barely a whisper. “Everything I do, is for us.”

“I know you think that. I know you want to do what’s best. But you like control as much as the rest of the men in my life. And I can’t give you that. I won’t let you control me and the way my life unfolds like Tommy did. I’m not that girl anymore. And this contract with Cass is for me.”

Cory was frozen, a pained look on his face. “You think I’m likehim?” He took a step back, shaking his head. “I’m nothing like that asshole. And you know it.”

My heart was in my throat. I hadn’t meant that. I hadn’t meant how that came out. But I could see the way my words had cut him down. I took a step forward, but he held up his hand.

“I think I need some air.”

“Cory...” I pleaded, desperate to fix this. He wasn’t like Tommy. That wasn’t what I was saying. I just needed him to see that this modeling gig was whatIwanted, and that should be enough.

He took another step back, reaching behind him for the door handle. “Please, Sky. I just...I’ll be back.”

But he didn’t come back. I waited for hours, sitting on the bed, refusing to even change out of my clothes. Before I finally gave up, exhausted and wrung out, I opened the door, looking hopefully down the corridor, imagining him walking back toward me, ready to fix this. Of course, there was nothing but the lonely hallway and buzzing florescent lights. And when the door clicked closed behind me, all I could do was cry.

CHAPTER 43

CORY

The phone started ringing, the tone loud in my ear in the otherwise perfect stillness of the morning. Dawn was barely starting to cast shadows on the ground, painting the skyline in a dingey orange-brown, the color of the mud that would cake the cars every spring back in Maine.

The line picked up. “Hello?”

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“Answering your call at six a.m.? I’m not sure. Why the hell are you calling me this early?” Cass’s voice was scratchy, like she had been asleep.

“You set Skylar up with a modeling contract?”

Sheets rustled before she blew a long breath in my ear. “Why do you sound pissed about this? Of all people, I’d think you’d be stoked for your girl?”

I huffed out a laugh, tugging at my hair. “Are you kidding me right now? I know better than anyone how fucked up this shit is.”

“She’s a big girl, Cory. She can handle herself.”

My teeth ground in my ear, the popping sound drowning her out. “She’s not doing this.”

Cass’s defiant laugh spilled through the phone. “She signed the papers, big shot. She’s doing it.”

“Get her out of it.”

“What? No. Why? What’s wrong with you?”

“This isn’t what she wants. This isn’t who she is. I’m not letting her throw her life away on this bullshit.”

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