Page 61 of Asking For It

“Lyn.” Pleading hung heavy in his voice, hitting my back. “Please. I love you.”

Thank God he couldn’t see me. I didn’t pause as I walked out of the room, down the back stairs, and to my car. I made it out of the parking lot, and all the way to the bookstore before I had to pull over. I couldn’t see the road through the tears streaming down my face.

How could I have been such an idiot?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ididn’t sleep thatnight. I tried, but the dreams were torture. A blend of school and now, people—Kingston and Owen—laughing at me. Stripping me bare. Exposing me to the world.

I gave up around three in the morning, downed half a pot of coffee, and made my way to the café kitchen. Now seemed like as good a time as any to bake new recipes for customers to try.

I burned the first couple, staring off into space. That made the taunting in my head worse.

With some more coffee, I was ready to go.

I lost track of time as I lost myself in cooking. Whenever my stomach growled or my eyelids drooped, more coffee.

“Lyn?” Anne’s concerned tone drew me out of my haze.

I instinctively painted on a smile when I looked up at her. “Hey. What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the day.” It was, wasn’t it? Sun was streaming through the windows, and not low in the sky.

“Violet called me. She said something happened yesterday, and she’s worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” My voice cracked. “Just tired.” A shudder ran through me, and tears tried to force their way out.

Anne pulled up a stool next to mine, wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and pulled me into her in a half hug. “Why didn’t you call?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to be a bother. You have your life. Your guys. So does Sadie.” Tears were flowing freely again. I didn’t want to be crying. Why couldn’t I stop?

“We’re always here for you.”

They shouldn’t be. I made this mistake. It wasn’t their responsibility to drop everything and console me for being blind. “They used me. They told me up front that they were going to win me over as a business partner, and I pushed my doubts aside. I thought it meant more. I’m such an idiot.”

“You’re not.” Anne shifted and pulled me closer, hugging me tight. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But it is. I knew who they were, what they wanted, and I pretended what we had was something else.”

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