Page 103 of Beyond the Hate

She throws daggers at me from her eyes. “Neither do you, asshole.”

“What do you know?”

“I know you’re an asshole who will never deserve Paisley.” She shakes her head. “After everything she’s been through with her family and her asshole ex. I expected better of you.”

Guilt tries to push its way into my conscious but I ignore it. I refuse to feel guilty for scraping Paisley off. I’m not the one in the wrong. I’m not the one who can’t be trusted.

Chapter 30

“Is being left alone too much to ask?” ~ Paisley

Paisley

I open the door to discover Maya, Nova, Chloe, and Sophia on my doorstep.

“Will it help if I order you to leave?”

Chloe snorts. “You’re cute.”

She pushes her way inside. Sophia, Nova, and Maya follow her. Maya squeezes my hand as she passes.

“Who told you?” I ask once they’ve made themselves comfortable in my living room.

“Blossom phoned me,” Nova says.

“And Dakota phoned me,” Chloe says.

I groan. “So, basically, every person on the island knows Eli dumped me. Great.”

“Dakota said there was a loud shouting match and items were thrown,” Chloe claims.

I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her. “No items were thrown.”

Although, now I’m thinking about it, I kind of wish I’d thrown something at Eli’s big, fat head. It would have been better than running off with tears in my eyes like some lame heroine in one of Maya’s romance novels.

“Bummer.” Sophia frowns. “Assholes should get what they deserve.”

“He’s going to be alone for the rest of his life. That’s his just desserts,” Maya says.

“As much as I’d enjoy imagining Eli alone and lonely in his old age, it’s never going to happen. He’s a billionaire. Eventually, someone will snap him up.”

And they can have him. Eli is dead to me. I never should have let him convince me he isn’t an asshole. He had me fooled. And, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s being fooled.

Chloe taps her chin. “Could we sabotage his wealth somehow?”

Nova frowns at her. “You can’t prank his wealth away.”

Chloe smiles. “But we could prank him. Rumor has it he’s afraid of Viking the otter.”

“Viking is adorable,” Maya says. “How can anyone be afraid of him?”

“Eli claims Viking bit him.” I roll my eyes. “He barely had a scuff on his shoes.”

I should have known then to stay away from him. Anyone who can get angry with an innocent little creature, who’s adorable to boot, should be avoided. Lesson learned.

No more spending time with Eli. No more early morning coffees at the brewery while everyone else is still asleep. Nomore surprise trips. No more dates where Eli spends the entire time teasing me with what he’ll do to me later. And no more nights spent in his arms.

“I’m going to die alone.”

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