Page 73 of Fairy Tale Lies
She couldn’t compete with both.
However, when the miles passed and he didn’t speak, the silence was worse than his angry words. She wanted to argue, to make him understand. Though, she kept making the situation worse.
In the end, he broke the oppressive silence, sounding utterly defeated. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m overreacting. From the start, you told me you wanted nothing serious. I shouldn’t have expected you to want more because I do.”
“Jacob, I—”
He held up a hand. “Please, Greta, I’m begging you. No more. My head’s killing me. I can’t think straight. I don’t want to say something I’ll regret.”
She didn’t want him to either. She twisted to face her window, to the night landscape. Perfect. The black nothingness suited her mood and hid the silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jacob looked at Greta. She’d fallen into a restless sleep. The silence was worse than her weak excuses. It gave him too much time in his head to replay the disastrous night and its aftermath.
Damn. All this time together, and she’d never even mentioned him to her family. Was he her filthy secret, or so insignificant he wasn’t worth mentioning?
The answer didn’t matter. It was time to end things. She was returning to Lansing, ending whatever they had together. It wasn’t like they were in a relationship. Tonight she made his one-sided illusion crystal clear.
He understood his place in her life. He was a diversion until Mr. High Society came along. He was a man to fuck and have a little fun with during summer break. Not the one to meet Mother and Father.
Jacob wanted to curse, to slam his fists against something hard. Anything to release the anger and disappointment boiling inside him and growing.
He couldn’t spill his bitterness onto her. She’d made her intentions clear from the beginning. He was the asshole who went and fell in love.
Maybe he could go back to the man he’d been before Greta. When his heart beat for no one, and his only desire was to make Rework a success.
Life might have been flat, but at least there was never a vise around his heart, slowly twisting his soul and leaking out his happiness. He rubbed his chest then gripped the steering wheel, scoffing. Nothing was going to ease the pain.
He pulled in front of her place, putting the car in park and glancing at the three-story brick building. The apartment had one main entrance, and every unit had a spacious balcony. The place had a cozy, sheltered vibe, not how he pictured campus housing. What the hell did he know? Closest he ever got to college was a couple miscellaneous courses at the local JC.
Turning, he touched Greta’s shoulder to wake her and found her eyes open and watching him. “This your place?”
She straightened and stretched. “Yup, this is it. What’d you expect? A white sorority house with drunken people on the lawn?” She offered a weak smile.
He tried to ignore the sadness in her eyes. It made him wish for more. “Yeah, I kind of did. All those college movies gave me high expectations.” His teasing fell flat.
“Sorry to disappoint. I’m a fifteen-minute walk, five-minute drive to the University. I prefer living in an apartment off campus than the craziness of college living.”
After a couple ticks of silence, Jacob grasped the door handle, opening it. Greta did the same. There was no sense dragging this out.
He needed to get her inside and leave before losing his nerve and pleading for her to feel things she didn’t. “It’s late. Let me walk you to your door.”
She came around and planted her feet in front of him. “Stay. Please.”
“No.”
Damn. Who knew one word could hurt like a bullet to his heart?
She placed a hand on his chest, almost shattering him. “We need to talk. We need to fix things.”
The pleading in her voice and the moisture gathering in her eyes confused him. “What’s to work out? I get it. We aren’t serious and never will be. I’m not worth the inconvenience or arguments it’ll cause with your family. Besides, you’re back here. Our summer fling is finished. There’s no need to talk. We’re done.”
Forget dropping her off at the door. He should have said goodbye in the car, called Jamie, and never looked back.
She owned his heart, and if he stayed even another ten minutes, he’d hand her every piece of himself. He’d be left with nothing but an empty shell of a man.
He didn’t move.
