Page 110 of Breakaway Hearts

I stop, my heart thudding hard.

Tell me to stay. Tell Sienna to leave. Tell me anything except that you want to get back together with her. Please. Please. Please.

“Do you need the car?” he asks, and something about that shatters me.

“No,” I whisper. “I’m good.”

I slip out the door before he can say anything else.

The walk from the house to the bus stop feels like several miles instead of the short few blocks it actually is. Luckily, it arrives just as I get there, and I hop on, still in a daze.

My head is fuzzy, and my mouth feels like it’s packed with cotton.

I’m so stupid. So fucking stupid.

Reese has never promised that things would be serious between us. We’re fake dating and friends with benefits, but that means nothing in the long run. All of this, every amazing, heart-wrenching moment of it has been an illusion. I knew that. Iknewthat. I even went so far as to try to help him get Sienna back.

But seeing the two of them on the couch like that made me feel like I was dying inside.

He still loves her. He obviously still loves her, and of course she’s going to want him back. How could she not? And when that happens, I know for a fact that things between me and Reese can’t go back to the way they were.

Because I love him. And not as a friend.

I fell in love with my best friend, and he’s going to crush my heart.

Tears blur my vision, and I get up when the bus rolls to a stop, even though I’m not actually sure where we are. I don’t care. I just need to walk. I need to get away from this feeling, away from the knowledge that my life is an inch from falling apart.

The bus pulls away, and I wrap my arms around myself as I start to cross the street.

A loud, blaring honk shocks me out of my thoughts. Tires screech as my head snaps up, and my arms fly out automatically, an instinctive gesture to try to protect myself.

But I’m not fast enough.

Everything goes dark.

Chapter38

Reese

Sienna and I lean over the contract after Callie leaves, going as quickly as possible since the meeting is in an hour and a half, and I still have to put on a suit and get ready.

She flips through the pages, explaining each detail to me, along with the time commitments and estimated filming schedule of the commercials, which my agent will make sure won’t interfere with practice or games. I’m not worried about that part of it at all. Sam has been my agent for a few years, and he’s the best.

I look up from the papers at her, studying her surreptitiously as she talks.

This is the first time she’s been here since we broke up. The first time she and I have been alone since then as well. She makes eye contact with me, and for a split second, her gaze drops to my mouth. I look back down at the paper, and she stutters over her words a little before continuing.

This is all I’ve wanted since we broke up. Her, here with me. We’re so close that I can smell her familiar scent—fresh citrus and honey—and every now and then, her arm brushes against mine. But instead of leaning into that simple contact, I pull away.

Instead of feeling elated that she’s here and seems to be going out of her way to spend time with me, I feel… nothing.

As she’s marking a few more places in the contract for me to pay attention to, my cell phone starts to ring. I pick it up to see an unknown number flashing across my screen. Usually, I would send it to voicemail, but I need a moment to stand up and step away from Sienna, so I lift the phone.

“Sorry. Let me take this really quickly.”

I step into the dining room to give myself a bit of privacy and answer the phone. Before I can get a word out, though, the person on the other end speaks.

“Is this Reese Sutton?” a woman says. She sounds harried, and the background noise makes her voice sound tinny and distant.

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