Page 104 of The Good Girl (Nashville Neighborhood)

I put my hand on the door knob but turned to look at him over my shoulder. “What?”

He looked so pleased with himself like he’d found a loophole. “We’ve got one lesson left.”

Everything in me tightened, squeezing against the onslaught of pleasure his statement caused. But I had to stay strong. I pushed open the door, stepped inside, and gave him a hard, final look, pulling the door closed as I spoke. “No. I think I’ve had enough lessons.”

TWENTY-SIX

Preston

How the fuck had this happened? In the last twenty-four hours, I’d lost my girlfriend, my best friend, and likely my company.

The old me would have solely blamed Colin for the mess, but I drove home from Sydney’s house, angry at everything and everyone, including myself. The conversations with her and Colin wouldn’t have spiraled out of control if I’d gotten one fucking second to think.

Everything had happened too fast.

Shit, she hadn’t flinched or hesitated when her brother asked if she loved me. Her resounding yes had made me go weightless, only for me to drop like an anvil a second later. It all became so real in that moment. Serious feelings were involved, and . . .

I wasn’t ready.

My emotions had gotten the better of me in the car. All the terrible but true things Colin had said had hurt me and so I’d lashed out, saying things I didn’t mean. I’d fucking blamed her when it wasn’t her fault.

No, the fault was all mine.

I went into the kitchen and tossed my keys down on the island with a little too much force, making them clatter angrily against the granite.

“Everything okay?” Cassidy asked.

She was sitting alone at the kitchen table. Her phone rested on the tabletop, and she must have been watching something while eating leftovers from a to-go container, but she pushed pause on her screen.

“No,” I said. “Everything is not okay. Colin said I have to choose. Him and the business—or Sydney.”

She drew in a long breath, leaned back in her chair, and crossed her arms. And then it looked like she wanted to say something, but she held it back.

I forced playfulness into my tone when I felt none of it. “Out with it.”

“An ultimatum? I know how that feels.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I know you do.”

The night I’d discovered her and my dad together, I’d lost my shit, and I’d forced my dad to pick between us. I’d done it because I was sure she’d never win. If he’d chosen her, that was a bridge he’d burn so completely with me, there wouldn’t have been a goddamn thing left.

It’d been unfair, but of course he’d chosen his son over her.

I’d apologized several times for the way I’d handled it, so I wasn’t going to do it again now, but she had to be pleased karma had paid me a visit.

“You want to talk about it?”

When I nodded hesitantly, she lifted a foot and used it to push out the chair seated across from her in invitation.

It should have felt weird to go to her, but . . . it didn’t.

Cassidy listened without comment as I dropped into the chair and then launched into what happened. How Colin had seen the text message from Sydney and found out we were together. The harsh things he’d told her about me.

The way she hadn’t flinched when she’d been asked if she loved me.

“I didn’t just hesitate,” I said. “I didn’t even answer.”

She tilted her head, and her evaluating gaze slid over me. “Do you?”

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