Page 21 of So Wrong It's Right

“And then you showed up. In the flesh. I didn’t know what to do. So, I didn’t do ...anything.”

“I was supposed to be gone in a week.”

“Exactly.”

I hate being the center of attention. I don’t want people to talk about me or gossip. That’s one of the reasons I work with animals. This kind of escapade is probably second nature to Stella, but I don’t want to be part of it. I suffered public humiliation at the hands of my ex, and I swore I’d never go there again.

But that’s Stella for you. Since the moment she tumbled into my life, she’s been driving me crazy.

It all begins making sense. Why the people in town are so friendly. Why her family encourages me so much. They think I’m going to take this woman and all her craziness off their hands, finally.

I scrape my hands through my hair. I should be furious. I am furious.

But I can’t stop thinking about the things that Devon said to her, the way her sister makes her feel, hell, the way I probably made her feel about herself.

She’s not my problem. I’m not obligated to clean up her mess. It’s not up to me to encourage this woman to come out from the fetal position she’s tucked into on her couch. To stand up to her overbearing sister and asshole ex-boyfriend.

I’m not suited to be her knight, and I don’t have a white horse.

But every time I close my eyes, I see stars.

Chapter Nine

Stella

“Stella, people likeyou—”

I scramble out of the corner of the couch I’d burrowed into. “People like me?”

How many times is this going to be the running theme in my life? I’m so tired of trying to please people who simply will not ever be pleased with me. Megan, my parents, Devon, and now Christopher.

I’ve barely recovered from the devastation of his kiss, and now he is about to tell me all the things that are wrong with me. I look around my apartment and wonder what it is, exactly, that is supposed to be so faulty with my life?

Christopher continues as if I’m not about to explode. “You remind me of my parents—rash and impulsive. I can’t deal with that. I don’t like to be the talk of the town.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “I have reasons. Things I’m not willing to talk about. But you and your impulsive nature put me right back where I most don’t want to be.”

Wait just a minute here.

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