Page 84 of Siren's Game

"Now why would I do that?" She raises her eyebrow at him, but this mysterious Jordan seems to lack the skill of reading a room.

"To have children, of course!"

Silence falls. You could hear a pin drop.

I lean over to my dad.

"Sorry in advance," I say softly, but he shakes his head.

"Oh no, go right on ahead, I think that’s quite enough."

"Listen here, you sorry excuse of a man," I say loud enough for the whole room to hear, standing up when the prick’s eyes land on me. I'm not quite sure what to do. All I know is I want to give him a piece of my mind from eye level. "You can take your misogynistic ass and fuck right off."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. When I'm lucky enough to get Kayla to marry me, it won't be to stay home and have fucking children and give up her career that’s already more impressive than anything you were able to achieve in your sad life. Do you even hear yourself? You're talking to one of the most successful and influential people on this fucking planet. One word from her and whatever business you have would probably go bankrupt. So I suggest you fucking leave before any of us will be tempted to do just that."

"You're going to let your son talk to me like that?" He looks past me to my father, who is wearing a proud grin on his face.

"Jordan, we should go," his girlfriend says softly and tugs at his sleeve, but he tears his arm out of her grasp.

"Well, he's right," Dad adds and crosses his arms over his chest and gets up as well. "Now, you've disturbed a lovely family time, and I am going to support my son in his suggestion for you to leave."

Finally, the weirdo huffs and walks off without as much as a goodbye. Good riddance.

Meanwhile, Kayla looks like she's seen a ghost.

God, I feel so bad. This evening is really not going in our favor and even worse is knowing that I’m at fault for that.

"Excuse me," she says, so softly I barely hear her, standing up from the table and quickly walking off.

My parents shoot each other a look that's basically a silent conversation before both of them get up as well.

"Excuse me, son, I need to make a few phone calls and cancel some contracts."

"And I have a gossip mill to feed," Mom adds, rubbing her hands together.

"Of course," I say when I realize that Millie shoots me a glare; I finally come to my senses and jump up to hurry after Kayla.

I find her pacing the hallway right at the front door, eyes directed to the ground as her mouth moves in a soundless whisper.

"Are you okay?" I ask her and she jumps in surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"I can't do this anymore, Asher," she says, her thumb at her lips as she bites her nail. I reach out to pull it away from her face, but she tears her hand out of my grasp. My heart sinks. "We need to stop."

"Stop what?" My blood turns ice-cold and my jaw tenses as I wait for her to confirm what I’ve feared.

"I can't do this," she repeats, her eyes looking anywhere but at me as she gestures between the two of us. My stomach drops and my eyes tear up with a sting. "I need to leave."

"Wait a second, we—"

"No, Asher," she says a bit louder, lowering her voice when she remembers that we're in public and there are people close by. "This was a charade to begin with and I'm ending it here. Millie and Luca are happy, everything's fine, we won't run into each other again. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. But I can't continue this. Meeting your parents, fucking up your industry contacts, it’s too much." Her voice sounds thick with emotion, and when her eyes finally meet mine, I stumble back a step at the intensity of the emotion in them.

"But we can—"

"Goodbye, Asher." She turns around and storms out of the front door and effectively out of my life.

"She's gone," I tell Millie and Luca when I return. Both of their heads shoot up where they had them stuck together for a hushed conversation.

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