Page 72 of Haunted Love

Then after entering his number into my phone, I shoot off a quick text.

Aspen - Hey, is this Harrison? It’s Aspen. You blew your load all over me at the salad bar.

His response comes almost instantly.

Harrison - How could I possibly forget? I’ve been thinking about that load ever since I shot it all over your tits.

A laugh bubbles up my throat, and I find myself smiling. I like a man who’s able to take a joke and run with it without taking things too far. He clearly has a good sense of humor, but he proved at the salad bar that he’s also kind and thoughtful. He doesn’t hesitate to fix something when he fucks up, and he’s straightforward about what he wants.

He’s exactly what I need, only despite the cocky grin and cheeky words, he didn’t make my heart race, not the way Izaac always has.

Aspen - I know I’m a few days late, but would it be completely left field if I accepted your proposal and allowed you to take me out?

Harrison - I knew you’d come running back! It’s my cocky boyish charm, isn’t it? You couldn’t resist.

Aspen - Could you put your cocky boyish charm away for just one second and answer the question?

Harrison - I’d fucking love to take you out.

A smile lingers on my lips, and I do what I can to wipe the tears away. This could be a new beginning for me, something to look forward to, and if it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t matter because there are always other fish in the sea. Though, there are also blood-hungry sharks in the sea, but I don’t think any kind of shark could take a bigger bite out of me than Izaac already has.

My phone buzzes again, and I glance down, expecting to find another text from Harrison, outlining whatever he might have in mind for our date, but instead, I find Izaac’s name across the screen.

Ahhhh shit. What could he possibly want now? Did he not think he hurt me enough already?

I should delete it.

Only morbid curiosity gets the best of me, and despite knowing better, I open his text.

Izaac - Vixen. 8pm. Tomorrow night. I’m going to fuck that smart mouth, and only when you’re begging for more, I’m going to fuck the attitude out of you.

I stare at his words, realizing he thinks he can fix this with sex. But there’s no fixing this. How can he possibly think I’d be willing to meet him after hearing those words come out of his mouth? He’s never going to love me. I’ll never be what he wants. I’m nothing but a good time.

I’m done.

This has to end.

I won’t be going back to Vixen, and I sure as hell won’t be allowing Izaac to use my body. I was kidding myself when I asked for this, and just as Becs predicted, I was the one who got hurt. It’s time to offer my heart the respect it’s always craved.

From here on out, Izaac Banks is dead to me.

24

IZAAC

My jaw clenches as I glance down at my watch. 8:30 p.m.

Aspen is chronically late. It’s a sickness. But when she’s meeting me, she’s always been on time. Even early on occasions, but tonight feels different. I hurt her yesterday. I had no fucking choice. She was asking for something I can’t give, no matter how I feel about it.

I had to lie. I had to tell her I’d never love her, but I think I already do.

I’m not capable of giving her what she needs. Not worthy of it. I don’t even know how to love someone, and I’m sure as hell not going to use her to experiment with that. She deserves so much better. All I’m going to do is hurt her, so it was best I shut her down before I let it get too far.

She hurts now, but in time, she’ll move on, despite how much the thought of that tears at something deep in my chest.

I didn’t expect her to challenge me on it last night. I figured after what went down at Cherry, we’d fight it out. When I called her yesterday, I knew she’d let loose. I expected her to scream, to come up with every insult under the sun and launch it directly at me, but I wasn’t expecting her to call me out on my shit. I wasn’t expecting her to challenge me.

She asked me if it meant more, if I was ever going to love her, and for her to ask me that means she already knows the truth. She can feel the shift in our relationship just as I can, and she’s right, I’m a fucking coward for not being able to admit it.

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