Page 2 of Lovestruck

“We’re just at two different places in our lives, Liv. We can’t ignore that anymore. You’re way too young for me, barely even old enough to drink. And I’m too old and too tired for all this—”

“What are you saying? That’s never been a problem for you before. If anything, I’m older now than when we first met.” She stares at me, clearly confused. I’ve learned her reactions well enough over the last year and a half.

With her lower lip trembling, I held on to my resolve. She needs to believe I’m indifferent, that I’m done, and that there is nothing here to save. This would be for her own good. “Look, Olivia, this has gotten to be too much. All the lying and sneaking around, I just can’t deal with it anymore.”

“I’ll change your mind. Stephen, please don’t do this,” she insists, her hand wrapping around my tie and pulling me back to her lips.

Each line of her body fits mine so perfectly. It would be so easy to wrap my arms around her, to give in to one more day of bliss in the arms of sweet, wild, intoxicating Olivia Love.

“No.” I gently push her away. “We’re done, Liv. This won’t change my mind. It will only make it harder.”

“You’re already hard.” She shoves me. “You called me here and got me all… Then you’re kicking me out?”

“I needed my key back.”

“What? Why?” She holds her purse to her chest protectively, refusing to meet my eyes. “No.”

“I’m moving. I sold the condo, and I need my key.”

“You’re moving?! To where? What are you going to tell me next? That you’re going into Witness Protection? Don’t lie to me just because you don’t want to see me anymore.”

I groan. “I’m not lying to you, Liv. I’m moving. Give me the key.”

“You want your key?” Rather than just give it, she rips it off her keychain and throws it across the room. “There’s your key! Go fuck yourself, Stephen. And don’t think about apologizing and crawling back to me when you get tired of your bimbos!”

I sigh and watch her storm out of the house. She doesn’t normally have a quick temper, but her passion drives her and her intensity has led her to stardom. When she wants something, she works hard, plays whatever game is necessary, and gets it. It’s one of the things I love about her.

I’ve never told her I love her. Never even called her my “girlfriend” officially. All of that just feels so…official? I don’t know. Not that it matters now. It’s over.

I groan and scrub my hands over my face. “Fuck.”

Her father had caught us fucking. That’s the real reason I had to break up with Olivia. Her father had threatened to end me, literally and physically. Not that I could blame him. I could just imagine how terrible it must have been for Garrett to see his best and oldest friend pounding away at his daughter as she moaned and screamed. There are some things a man just isn’t supposed to see or hear. But Garrett seems to have nerves of steel and ice for blood. Instead of punching me straight in the face right there and then, he called me into his office the next day.

Garrett’s office was dressed in bookshelves, had a solid wood desk, and the air of a study from the twenties. Not to mention the lingering smell of cigars.

“Sit, Stephen,” he commanded.

I did. His dead-cold tone told me something was up. “What’s going on, Garrett?”

He stood and walked around his desk while smoking a cigar—an upgrade by his standards. Cigars were for closing deals and making serious decisions. He looked me over like I was a stranger, a threat, not someone he’d known since high school. And then I knew…

“Garrett, let me explain before you—”

His fist answered, nailing me in the face and effectively shutting me up. I saw stars before seeing his red face again, only inches away from mine. He was holding me by my neck.

“I told you to leave her alone! You told me you two were done! You said you had never laid a hand on her!” he snarled, spit hitting my face, his face purple. “I trusted you, you sonofabitch. I even gave you another chance. And then I find you…fucking my daughter?”

For a moment I could see the hurt hidden behind his wild, mad eyes. And then his hand tightened over my neck even more. “You could have any woman you want. But you had to seduce my daughter too?!My fucking daughter?!”

“I—” I couldn’t breathe, much less speak.

“You piece of trash—touch her again and you’ll be tossed into a landfill, you hear me?” he said, a vein throbbing in his temple.

I nodded my response. He released me then and walked back to his desk. “I once thought very highly of you. But you’re no better than the shit stains that peddle by the road. If you can’t keep your hands off her, you’re going to have more than a bruised face. I have powerful people in my pocket, Stephen. Do you understand?” The chill of his threat wasn’t wasted on me. A shiver slid down my spine.

I wanted to tell him I was sorry. And truth be told, that I loved his daughter. That Olivia was the reason I was put on this earth—to love her, to take care of her, to make her happy. But I knew it wouldn’t matter.

I’ve lost my oldest friend and the only woman I’ve ever loved. What a fucking mess.

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