Page 75 of Terms + Conditions
“Elizabeth.” I sigh, rubbing my eyes. “It wasn’t like that.”
“You know what, I really don’t care.” Elizabeth simply shrugs and walks away, and I almost let her. I almost let her walk away without the fight because I was exhausted after the quickturnaround from Wichita, and I didn’t want to fight about this. I’d rather go to bed, let the dust settle, and talk about it tomorrow. I think we both know holding off won’t make the conversation any different. We have to do this—to have this conversation, and finally face the elephant in our relationship.
“You don’t get to just walk away. We need to talk about this.”
But she doesn’t stop. Elizabeth continues down the hall toward the guest room she’s been occupying for the last month. I’m finally able to catch her, taking hold of her wrist, preventing her from closing the door and locking herself away in her room. “What is there to talk about, Josh? You’ve made it pretty fucking clear the only thing standing in your way is me and our fucking predicament, which by the way, isyourfault. We wouldn’t be in this ifyouhadn’t—”
“My fault?” My voice carries down the hall. “You’re the one who didn’t want to wait for her inheritance like some spoiled brat. How asinine is that? You act like you’re some sweet, innocent angel, but you are far from it, Sugar.”
Elizabeth takes a shaky breath, looking away from me.
“You pretend to be this perfect, wholesome girl, but you’re nothing more than a snake in the grass.”
Regret started to seep into every part of me with every word. My stomach churns as the words fall from my lips, and I hate myself for not stopping them. Sure, part of me meant what I said…She has always put on a show for other people and kept up appearances, but never to the detriment of others. Despite her reserved and hardened exterior, Elizabeth is one of the most kind and loyal people I’ve ever know.
Her head whips to meet my gaze again, her voice deadly, “Fuck you, Josh.”
I take a deep breath, trying to settle the increasing beat of my heart, the adrenaline that has reached every end of me withnowhere to go. I can feel my hands begin to waver, my chest aches, and a black hole has formed in my stomach.
“All I’ve done the last six and a half years is support you, stand by your side. Love you. Even when we—”
“You don’t love me.”
Elizabeth gasps at my words. “I don’t love you?”
“You’ve been waiting to leave since we said I do. Hell, from the moment we signed that damn contract.”
She doesn’t deny it, her gaze unwavering on the other side of the hallway.
“Time’s almost up, Sugar; I was just preparing myself for the inevitable.”
I hate to admit it, but I knew this day would come. I just never thought it would come so fast. Never thought I’d feel so attached to her. Never thought I’d fall in love with her. Fall in love with someone who would never fully be mine.
“The inevitable.” Elizabeth scoffs and wets her lips. She takes a ragged breath and her brown eyes meet my gaze again, but she doesn’t look like the same woman who had been standing in front of me moments ago. She reminds me of the eighteen-year-old girl who sat across the table ten years ago and agreed to this arrangement for a set amount of time. “You’re right. This was always the plan. No use pretending there is anything between us anymore.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, and the pit in my stomach begins to swallow me whole. This is what I wanted, though, isn’t it? I just wanted her to be honest and stop pretending. Stop pretending we didn’t know this was coming.
“You want her, Josh? Fine. But I’m not giving you a damn dime, so you’ll just—”
“So, you’re going to make us both suffer because you don’t want to cough up chump change?”
Elizabeth’s face falls, but her eyes are still set ablaze. “Go fuck yourself, Josh.”
The bedroom door slams between us. I raise my fist to knock. I don’t want that to be the last thing we say to each other tonight, but my hand falls to my side. I need to let her cool down. Hell, I need to cool down. We shouldn’t talk in this frame of mind. It will only make things worse. I thought we’d be able to fix things, even after she said we were done for good after that last fight, but now…I’m not so sure. We’ve had our fair share of arguments before, but something about this one feels different. Final.
And why wouldn’t it be?
That’s what we wanted…right?
CHAPTER FORTY
NOW
THUNDER ROARS ABOVE ME less than a second after a strike of jagged white light stretches across the sky. About an hour outside of Charleston, I drove straight into a thick blanket of rain. Driving down the main stretch of Jupiter Beach, the rain comes down harder, pounding onto the roof of my Bronco, and it doesn’t let up as I turn down her street.
The clock reads 11:58 p.m. I can only assume she’s already in bed, but I couldn’t wait. Pulling into her driveway, her house lit up like a damn Christmas tree, and not just because of the Christmas lights. All of the lights in the house are on, and that damn truck is in the driveway again. Through the sheet of rain, I can make out two figures on the front porch. Maybe I shouldn’t do this if he’s here…
No, I have to do this. I have to try.
