Page 55 of Ruin
I laugh. I can’t help it. The question is so fucking ridiculous.
“No.”
“Okay. How about dinner, then?”
Yes.
“Definitely fucking not.”
It’s quiet for a long moment, but I can still see him out of the corner of my eye, so I know he didn’t go anyway. I keep my gaze on the TV, but I have no idea what I’m looking at.
“Would it change your mind if I told you I wasn’t with Beth anymore?”
My hand tightens on the remote, and I stop breathing.
He’s not with Beth anymore? Why? For how long?
“We’ve been separated for a while,” he adds.
“It changes nothing.” My words are shaky because his are bullshit. “Why would you even tell me that?” I say, anger getting the better of me. “Do you think that’s just going to makeme jump into the back seat of your car again? Like it erases everything that happened?”
“Not at all.”
“Then why did you tell me that?” I demand, getting to my feet.
He can’t give me hope like that. He can’t let me think there’s a chance. Without her in the way…
“I don’t want any secrets between us.”
I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, that would have been helpful ten years ago, Lucian.”
“I know that, Kolton. I’m trying here.”
“Trying what, exactly?” I toss the remote onto the couch and throw my arms up. “What exactly are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, not really.”
I expect him to say some crazy shit. I expect him to tell me that he’s trying to get back together with me. Or maybe he just wants to fuck again. Maybe he wants some weird sugar baby shit, or he misses me sucking his dick. Wants me to fuck him one last time. I don’t know.
What he actually says, throws me for the craziest loop, and it’s the most dangerous thing he’s said so far.
“Kolton, I still love you.”
I hold his gaze, unable to blink, breathe, or move. It feels like forever. Hours pass. Days, maybe. I don’t fucking know. I finally suck in a breath when my vision starts to blur in the corners.
“Get the fuck out of my house,” I whisper.
He frowns, holding my gaze for only a moment before turning on his heel and walking out.
I wish, for once, he would just fucking argue with me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kolton
Twenty years old…
